The season of silliness is a short one, lasting little more than a single day: April 1st. We at The Motley Fool take it quite seriously, pulling annual pranks of our own. Our most recent one detailed our class action lawsuit against the U.S. government on behalf of Enron.

To many people, our high-water mark was our eMeringue.com Internet pie-topping delivery service, while a personal favorite of many longtime Fools is our revelation that most mutual funds beat the market. [Actually, most mutual funds underperform the market, which is why you might want to try our Champion Funds newsletter -- for free -- to be introduced to many of the relatively few outstanding funds out there with strong track records and prospects.]

The Motley Fool isn't alone in these April hijinks, though. Check out these gags of yore from some major American companies:

  • In 1996, Yum! Brands' (NYSE:YUM) Taco Bell unit announced that it had purchased Philadelphia's Liberty Bell, and would be renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. According to the folks at museumofhoaxes.com, "When White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale . he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold, though to a different corporation, and would now be known as the Ford (NYSE:F) Lincoln Mercury Memorial."


  • In 1998, the folks at Burger King made a splash with their debut of the "Left-handed Whopper," as a convenience for the millions of lefties out there. The burger's fixings were remaining the same, but they'd be rotated 180 degrees. (Burger King is expected to have an initial public offering in the near future.)


  • In 2002, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) revealed its secret: Its Web searches weren't based on fancy computer algorithms, but instead were carried out by specially trained pigeons.


  • In 1986, millions were shocked to learn that the Eiffel Tower was being moved to Disney's (NYSE:DIS) EuroDisney theme park outside Paris. And in 1995, The Irish Times reported that Lenin's embalmed body would also be moved to EuroDisney.


  • In 1996, when Virgin Cola was competing with Motley Fool Inside Value pick Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP), it announced that it had developed cans that turned blue when their contents were no longer fresh. This was very clever, since PepsiCo had recently introduced a new look for its still-blue cans.

Believe it or not, every year millions of people fall for these gags. Burger King had people lining up for their left-handed Whoppers (and some requesting right-handed ones), and outraged citizens protested the Taco Liberty Bell. Heck, some publications reported our Foolish jokes as facts, too.

It's not too early to mark your calendar. Come next April, be on the lookout for some fun from many corners of the corporate world.

Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian owns shares of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. The Fool's disclosure policy is no joke.