They went too far, and lost their jobs
- WAAF is a rock music radio station in Boston. Back in 1998, they had a pair of radio hosts that went by the names Opie and Anthony, who decided they would have a little fun with their mayor. As it turned out, not many people thought it was any fun at all.
- Opie and Anthony announced on their radio show that Tom Menino, the mayor of Boston at the time, had been killed in a car accident. Not so funny. People began calling the mayorís family with messages of condolences. Menino was on a flight home from Florida at the time and became quite upset when he heard the news. The radio hosts were fired!
- William Castellini was the press agent for Philadelphiaís Franklin Institute in 1940. He was looking for a way to create a publicity stunt and drum up attention for a lecture at the planetarium titled ìHow Will the World End?î Castellini sent an announcement to a local radio station. The statement read, in part, ìScientists predict that the world will end at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time tomorrow. This is no April Foolsí joke. Confirmation can be obtained from Wagner Schlesinger, director of the Fels Planetarium of this city.î Castellini was fired, too.
- These DJs got into trouble when they made claims about the local water supply. Two Florida DJs for a local country radio station told their listeners in 2013 that they would receive dihydrogen monoxide when they turned on their water taps at home. They werenít lying to their audience, since dihydrogen monoxide is just a fancy way of describing water. However, the listeners just didnít get it, and law enforcement was called in. The local utility department was forced to issue a statement saying the water was actually safe to drink despite any statements to the contrary. The April Foolsí joke ended in criminal charges filed against the DJs.
