Several years ago, I sold a car through Shift, a service in my state that connects used car sellers and buyers. Apparently, I’m still on Shift’s mailing list. Today, the company sent me an e-mail explaining that its data on buyers’ preferences for political parties had been analyzed. And it invited me to click the link to shop for “Republican Cars” or “Democrat Cars” (depending on one’s own preference, of course).
This seemed a big step, but I was not too surprised. Studies have shown several differences in people based upon their politics, so why not car preferences? I clicked the link, looking forward to learning which kinds of cars were Democratic and which were Republican. However, both links took me to the same list: it’s a list of ALL cars Shift is selling. Both political parties: same list.
That was when I went back to the e-mail and noticed the * asterisk that this offer is only good on April 1. That was all it said, but we can fill in some more details on our own:
“Happy April Fool’s Day, fool. You’ve been punked.”
There is no list for different political affiliations; it’s all a joke. And this company did a nice job because they probably got plenty of curious clicks on that ad campaign. Designing the e-mail probably took about 10 minutes. A select few probably saw it as a joke from the beginning. Some gullible people like me will figure it out fairly quickly while others may never figure it out. Many people probably tweeted and shared those links with their friends.
End result: Nobody got hurt or offended. Shift got some extra clicks and additional buzz until people realized it was a hoax. Well done.
I wish I could say that was the only April Fool’s joke that fooled me, but I have kids. Part of being a parent is to play along with any fun ideas they have. Plastic spiders, flour in the sugar jar, mustard in the toothpaste; things like that. One of my kids made me toast for breakfast and mixed in a bunch of garlic salt with the butter. It was nasty. Our other kid changed the language on my phone to Japanese. When I asked her to fix it, she told me she had done so, but left it on Dutch for the rest of the day.
All things considered, we got off fairly easily today, since some years there are a lot more jokes and practical witchcraft. Perhaps this April 1 was light because April Fool’s Day fell on the same day as Easter, which has not happened in 60 years.
I’ll Admit Any Mistakes When the Time Comes
Also, someone else told me that I need to admit my mistake for posting a few months ago about Shohei Ohtani, the Japanese (now American) baseball star. I had recommended that he should sign with a National League team in the U.S. (where the pitchers also have a turn as hitters), since he wanted to play on both sides of the ball. I suggested a National League team would be a lower-pressure situation for him if it turns out that he isn’t a great hitter, because an American League team will be relying on him for more production if it uses him as a pitcher and designated hitter in separate games.
So someone said I should admit my mistake, since Ohtani signed with an American League team (as every single expert besides me predicted, so it wasn’t much of a surprise). And it looks like he can hit a little.
Hit a little? Yes, he got one hit on his first day. And he pitched nicely today. I never said he couldn’t pitch; he’s a very good pitcher. I questioned whether he can hit productively in Major League Baseball. At the moment, he has one hit and we are three games into a season that lasts 162 games, so it seems JUST a bit early to be weighing in with any judgments.
Even though he got a hit in his first MLB at bat, I’ll stick by my skepticism and my belief that he may struggle as a hitter. If not right away, wait until he’s had a few months’ worth of at bats and the opposing teams have a book on his strengths and weaknesses. Scouting reports will point out his weaknesses; everyone has at least one. And when they learn how to pitch to him as a hitter, watch whether he’s able to make adjustments and still be productive.
I Won’t Eat Any Crow
Therefore, I will not eat any crow today. For those readers for whom English is not a first language or who may not be familiar with this expression, “eating crow” means apologizing publicly for one’s mistakes.
Come to think of it, there are several idioms in English that involve crows. If you have a crow to pluck with me, we’ll settle it soon enough. A few months might seem like a long time to wait, but I’ll be up with the crows and it’s not that far the way the crow flies. When I win, I won’t crow about it.
Fuller list of crow idioms: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/crow
Okay, enough is enough. I’m feeling like crow bait.
If You Prefer to Eat Crow Literally, Here is Some Inspiration
Pan-fried Crow Filets
Check out Scott Rea’s video on how to prepare these. They sound divine. I’ll pass, but I did watch the video.
Crow on the Bone with Fennel
A MasterChef contestant tried impressing the judges with this one. It made an impact, but not in the right way.
Frying Crows in Lithuania
The feast is on and guess what’s for dinner.
I hear it tastes a lot like chicken. After a few beers, I’d probably try it, but I’d rather not. I might go for some humble pie though.
Top photo: Public domain from Pixabay. Crow photo: Creative Commons via Wikipedia by Dickdaniels. Shift e-mail is courtesy of Shift.
why should the date April 1, whether there is a promo on that date
see how you missed being court jester if you'd tagged this with #comdeyopenmic. Will be watching and collecting crows in the coming months and god save you if you turn out to be wrong. a special dlive section will be set up to watch donkey gulp down an abbatoir worth of meat.
We are watching you!
We donkeys have eyes in the back of our heads too.
the staring contest just got interesting!
Back in 2013, me and my friend came upon a dead crow in the street once. It wasn't crushed or anything nasty like that, and seemed fairly fresh. Probably electrocuted?
We hung out around it a bit, thinking what to do with it and coming up with a way to get rid of it or something.
However, things escalated when my friend bet me on something. And if I'd lost that bet, I'd have to eat the crow. Literally.
And I lost.
No one was around when I tore apart that crow thankfully. Almost barfed. That asshole recorded the whole thing without me knowing and now everyone calls me the crow eater. >_>
Warning: it is nasty.
That's truly nasty. If you're going to dine on roadkill, at least bring along some BBQ sauce. :)
I don't know man, just wanted to get over with it as quick as possible.
now it's beginning to make sense why traf traded you off. urghhhh
Yeah I'm not proud of this either.
A bet's a bet though.
i've never thought about eating a crow, i might wanna try it too. lol !
Crows were scavengers and they are like garbage collector in nature. They are not created for as human food but instead they are the ones to clean up viruses and bacteria from dead animals to prevent it from spreading to other live animals.
They have digestive enzymes that can kills any type of bacteria from dead animals and even their shit is so potent that can kill bacteria.
So we found a new medicine. Eat crows and be healthy!
I hate to say I told you, Crow, but I told you, Crow.
I don't know why I said that.
Coming from you, it may have some deeper profound meaning that I'll have to find through much reflection. :)
Even the word 'meaning', has a meaning.
Stop Jaden Smithing us.
you saw one in a dream last night
How did you know that?
his twin visited and accused their pops of leaving them out to hang. don't for one second think your art don't grow wings and live
Oh yeah, it's something original and the video about fried crows is a very interesting sight, I honestly did not try the raven, haha. But jokes on April 1 are always appropriate and it was great! Thank you @donkeypong
April 1 jokes should be nasty haha. But we understood that eating it helps better then medicine, because kills bacterias so if you stay in the forest and you see the animal and you feel really bad go catch it, eat it and you are healthy again!
The tone of humour in your narrative suggests you are a lively person. I laughed hard reading the part where you thought some cars were Democrats while others were republican. It is better that it was all an April Fool hullabaloo, otherwise anarchists will have to ride on donkeys. Lol
It is also funny how your children changed your phone language to Japanese. Children can be very annoying sometimes but they are beautiful creatures nevertheless.
Thanks for lighting up my day, boss.
Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, they needed a "None of the Above" party option there also.
Hahaha I agree with you absolutely because there are surely some guys who don't give a duck about politics
not sure if i can say same thing for a coz who bathes gadgets for a living.
Sorry about the pranks, i admit that i also fell for 3 pranks and the biggest was one by our steemit whatsapp group members who said that our wallets were being emptied...!!! I had to even write a post of the 3 pranks,it was a great day though.
Your daughter must be stubborn to change your phone into Japanese and then to Dutch!
I gotta say, I'm pretty open to trying anything once but the idea of actually eating crow doesn't appeal to me. Maybe it's the years of watching crows eat roadkill or whatever else it can sink it's beak into. As for your prediction, you didn't knowm that you MUST be right immediately or else people will call you a fool. It is human nature for people to look to prove us wrong and take pleasue in our mistakes. I personally don't have an opinion about how it might play out but one at bat is too small a sample size to pass judgement. Sheesh, in that case Justin Smoak is going to break records this season!!
Finally, being a dad of 3 and having 6 kids total between my partner and myself makes April Fool's day interesting in our house. They have been talking about it for weeks. I think my favourite or maybe least favourite has been the not so delicious Oreo cookies the darling kids served one time. They had scraped out the yummy filling and replaced it with toothpaste. I supposed it could have been worse. Happy Easter!!!
Toothpaste Oreos - I'll have to try that some time!
Thats a pretty good April's Fools from Shift! You say no one got triggered but i bet out there someone didn't get the joke and its currently really mad writing back at them for dividing the country even more lol!
There where not that many April's Fools jokes out there this year or at least not that many worth taken notice off, i read a few good ones here on Steemit and some here and there on Reddit.
The crow looks decent enough i guess, idk if i would eat it sober or at least they would have to guarantee me its a healthy crow and not one hunted out in the wild i guess? maybe.
The sad part is that once I read the headline, it seemed to fit right in with the whole polarization thing. In a way, I'm glad it was a joke. I think the day also being Easter and a Sunday cut down on the number of jokes.
The marketing team for shift cars should be given a bottle of champagne for that idea. I also like the fact that the prank was not an offensive one.
I'm ashamed to say how many times I clicked on it before figuring out what they did. :)
Hahahahaha first i was shocked to hear the category of the cars i-e the personal choice and the political affiliation :D ( Oh man it was a April Fool )
During my university days we did the very same joke with one of our clerk and typed a fake notice with stamp of the director that tomorrow is a holiday :D He was very happy with the new and he announced it on the notice board ( as he owned the keys). When admin officer read that note he called the Clerk and took his class. Later he met us with anger looks :D
We apologized him and told it was a joke,do not take it serious.
This day can be dangerous sometimes, so be careful @donkeypong
Little mischief from the kids can make one's day, loved it <3
Stay Blessed ;)
A little mischief, I can handle. Dangerous jokes I cannot.
Hahahahaha oh yeah that is a valid point indeed :D
Companies always comes up with new tactics which never seizes to amaze me lol .Learned a very new idiom cause english is a very deep language and you never stop learning. Haha you sound like a very good dad to have played along with the kids just to make their day, many parents does that but not all. I mean why should you eat crow when it’s your opinion and prediction on that particular topic and person, you are saying what you think and i think world would be a better place if people spoke their heart out, i am not much of a baseball fan and I rarely watch it as it seems to have lost so behind the NFL and NBA in the popularity game, even in the states. I watched the video of cooking the crow and now i feel like puking,is that normal cause crow is also a type of bird like chicken but out morals don’t allow us to eat it and still looks gross to me. Whoever told you to admit your non existent mistake should admit theirs now. Thanks for sharing.
It's all in good fun.
Morals don't allow you to eat crows? I do know that many people do not eat certain beasts out of a (I think) ludicrous set of morals that separate certain animals from others. But it is true that crows eat a lot of garbage and are not raised in farms for eating, while chicken are "specifically" cared for eating, which would warrant higher health standards.
Shohei Ohtani singles in his Major League debut
Why are people hating on him already? Have you seen him play in Japan? He was amazing at such a young age too. He has so much potential and his at bats weren't bad today. Yeah he needs to get under the ball a bit more and adjust to guys pitching him hard inside, but these are all things I think he will be able to do. Also he can really pitch! He didn't look great in the spring, but I really believe he can succeed, his stuff is as good as just about anyone.
He's good. I'll be surprised if they're still using him as a hitter in another year or two, though. I'm guessing he's a much better pitcher than hitter in this league. Just my prediction and hope I'm wrong. It's wonderful to watch.
I'm with you. If he wants to hit he have signed with a National League team. I don't get the lure of the American league for a guy like this. If he's really a good hitter it is such an advantage for the Nat league team and he can pile up more wins for himself because of "his" extra bat especially if he pitches into the 6th inning. Then, if he's really really good they can use him to pinch on rest days and free up a roster spot. But, the experts have spoken but they don't seem like experts to me.
Wow, you're the first person to agree with me on that one. Literally everything I read said AL instead. He may regret it if they stop using him to DH at some point (which they will if someone like Pujols is still able to swing but not run).
Maybe we are wrong but the AL is where old hitters go to die slowly and there are some great ones. I can't see him keeping pace with those bulked up power hitters when he's pitching. I would much rather be in the NL facing batters and giving myself an advantage with my own plate appearances. We will see how it shakes out but the Angels won't be forced into hitting him if they don't want to but any NL team would have had to.
Hahaha i just fall for your prank i must say it sounded real until i keep on reading thanks for fooling us it's really fun with you.
It wasn't mine. I fell for it also! :)
ok thanks for sharing it
I really laughed after I read this blog of you sir. I couldn't realize how you seem to believe April fools day. Haha well, I have many experienced many happening during april fools. And honestly, after I were fooled I was so angry because it is really like a true happening. I just could imagine how funny it was to be
Yes, I'm fairly gullible. Sometimes, I don't realize the joke until much later (unless my toast tastes like garlic salt).
I think that I am very prepared in April Fools not to fall for pranks, although I may be vulnerable if the right stimulus comes. For now, I have been very sceptical about every strange thing I read on this date, and maybe not so much in other dates.
Every year, I visit the subreddit /r/AprilFools to check for a user-provided list of the day's pranks. I enjoy the day a lot, but seeing as I'm too accustomed with the style of the pranks, I have unfortunately, or fortunately, not fell for any in a long while.
Hehe shopping for either Republican Cars or Democrat Cars was a good one. I can't imagine any American with political affiliations not having clicked it.. And obviously the number of clicks tell the numbers that were hoaxed.
Let whoever is asking you to admit your mistake on your perception of Shohei Ohtani, eat the crow himself.. Anyone in the entertainment limelight whether sport or music is subject to being criticized.
that was the point
Well, I would have clicked out of curiosity to find if there were political-based car stereotypes.
The advertising group for move autos ought to be given a jug of champagne for that thought. I additionally like the way that the trick was not a hostile one.
I read this blog of you. I couldn't understand how you appear to trust April fools day. Haha well, I have numerous accomplished numerous occurrence amid april fools. Furthermore, truly, after I were tricked I was so furious on the grounds that it is extremely similar to a genuine happening.
Some of us are entirely too trusting.
yep and for your interest, you were fooled by a copy/paste comment spammer who copied the comment from
@morbyjohn
and this account is part of the comment spam accounts of perry1
The other accounts are
max1994
melissa1999
wilson6
taylor10
jerrybanfields
Must have been a fun day for you. Kids are just awesome, they make your day special. Just getting to know the phrase "eating crow". Would have thought it actually means eating a crow.
How can I eat a crow, I'm just a potato! We potatoes are straightforward, we don't believe in idioms!
Such an interesting post buddy, keep it up.All the best.
Haha, very funny.Keep it up buddy.
Thought it was an April fool joke, they have successfully analysed which party you are supporting.
I like your child's joke style, changing the language on the phone to japanese.
Hahahaha
your lovely family @donkeypong
Happy Easter !
I like your kids. They are mischievous in a good-hearted way.
Ohtani - he has a really good swing. I think it was his ego and his rep which got him to sign in the American League. It gives him a shot at being an everyday DH while in the Nat'l League, he would only bat every 4 or 5 games.
Re: Crows
In The Game of Thrones - 2 references to "Crows" .
Cheers.
loool
April Fool day is something that no matter intelligent we are we must fall victim to at least one person. It's funny but a crazy joke. Happy easter.
Hahahahaha your kids really did get you and I hope she has now been able to change the language setting of your phone from Dutch back to english . But you should have been able to change that yourself without her consent though...lolzzz.
Well you are correct. This years April fools Day was kinda light. Didn't get much of it and I suppose it's coz of the Easter celebration so many were sober. It's a good thing though as many are fund of doing outrageous stuffs on April 1 . Things they get to regret later .
@donkeypong, I'm totally enjoying read your blog this time. I can't imagine why peoples believe April pool day yet. Every 1st of April pool day happened very joyful scenes to me. But those every thing did ma friends. So I didn't angry with them. Finally we all laughing reminded past pool things. I agree with you finally said via your last post about Shohei Ohtani.
Ha ha handy skills has your kid. Thanks for given enjoyment to me.
April Fool is always a fun day. I remember someone said yesterday that steem should just give us April Fool by increasing Steem value to $10 for just 5minutes 😂
The April fool prank was a very good one and I want to commend the staff who came up with it. They succeeded in making their customers laugh and at the same time advertising their devices to more potential customers. This is ingenius and it's what every company should emulate
I guess everyone should better taste crow meat feel happy ever after... Yukk i can't have it ..i hate them alooooot...
Lets get started ...halaluyooo
You spent an easter day full of joke. both for the sale of car and von your children .. lol .. my son did the same to me he put the cell phone in Chinese.
i really impress see your writing skill ..i like your blog sir thanks for share with us
Happy April Fool Haha
The first day of April is really very special
Such a great amount on April first, outside being the first day of April, it's likewise the principal Sunday of the month, Easter, and the all around acclaimed fools day. Which helps to remember the film for what reason do fools begin to look all starry eyed at, prosperity Easter I do trust we get around to demonstrate some adoration with family.
Interesting and funny post. Yes, the company received an excellent surprise. April 1 should always be cautious, if you do not want to look like a fool :))
@donkeypong, I enjoyed reading your post. For fool i have read your post. Really it was difficult that , Is it truth or false. However I enjoyed it.
Hahahaha that was a nice e-mail april fools prank. This made my day :)
Crow pancakes.you must be joking. Hahahaha.
Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. 😋
Very funny...That was a great idea to make people fool on the ocassion of Aprill fool day where they made something very curious about the car putting hottest topic of Democrat and Republican where people did click but didn't get offended which a good part...its fun to hear about what your children did with you!
Eating Crow a phrase never heard of it but got to know a new phrase in my pocket of English which is very interesting...Indeed the word has very powerful meaning.
Your interpretation was fair on the baseball player but what people understood is not your fault....The videos are very weird making grilled crow really...Who does like crow...I think I am fine with chicken.
Thanks @donkeypong for sharing your experience.
wow this great fun post I like it thanks for sharing.. best of luck..
ohhh Yeah very funny. maybe is in the market available.
great inform about crow
carry on
nice post
my friend also April fool me
he says to me about my friend accident.
Thanks for share experience front us
Now this is some good marketing from Shift lol.
And a good prank too!
Yep. That too.