The best April Fool’s hoaxes of 2014

THE annual frenzy of spoofs, jokes and hoaxes that mark the first of April have been delivered; here’s our recap of some of the best.

The Warburtons office plans. Picture: Contributed

Scottish independence was a major theme in newspaper hoaxes this year. From Scots driving on the right-hand side of the road in The Guardian to The Daily Mail’s revelation of a new Union flag, the referendum run-up seemed to be a key part of a number of spoof stories.

Fortunately, there were some non-political laughs to be had, such as bakers Warburtons unveiling their plan for a bread-shaped skyscraper in the heart of the City of London. The two halves of the building sandwich the Gherkin building, in case the joke wasn’t obvious enough to begin with.

In other food news, ITV reported on a farmer whose chickens had begun to lay square eggs, while The Daily Record claimed a Scottish bakery are planning to use unmanned drones to deliver their pies.

Technology also proved a happy hunting ground for hoaxers; Tesco unveiled the Cudl - the world’s first two-person tablet, which looks suspiciously like a pair of Hudl devices strapped together with a length of hose.

Accommodation website Airbnb ’announced’ the launch of ‘Airbrb’, a website for professionals to rent their desks as they go unused during lunch or bathroom breaks, and Google put out its now-standard array of gag stories, from the Magic Hand that can operate your smartphone to an auto-photobomb feature in Google+ that adds a smiling David Hasselhoff to all your photos.

And yes, you caught us red-handed - we aren’t really launching a meme-only version of the Scotsman. Very hoax. Much comedy. So April. Wow.