The John Griff Column: ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ or ‘Truth or Dare’ ?
It is a day which has been marked or referred to since the 1600s. Observed across much of Europe, it is traditionally a day of pranks, jokes and mistruths masquerading as reality. The sport of April Fools Day seems to be as much about trying to spot a prank and not fall prey to it as much as being the perpetrator of one. This week’s annual anniversary of harmless mirth took place in much the same humour, albeit that it’s not a date in the calendar for all. Did you get taken in?
In truth, I did – or, at least, I think I did. These days the pranks come thick and fast, such is the capability of social media to spread a complete falsehood and spin it as though it is the real thing. Likewise, there are some who choose to set out something which looks like it might be an April Fool prank but, paradoxically, really IS the truth. And thus it was that I read of the Red Bull F1 team which on Tuesday morning announced that its cars this weekend would be running in a changed livery, swapping their familiar and signature dark blue satin scheme for one that is almost completely white, in honour of the team’s Japanese engine manufacturer, Honda. The Suzuka track where the Japanese Grand Prix takes place was originally constructed as Honda’s test track, taking in corners and design cues from many of the world’s other circuits. It is often referred to by the drivers as being the greatest track on earth, at least in terms of the challenges it sets. Against this background of history and honour, why would I disbelieve Red Bull’s announcement, even if it came on April 1st? As it is though, I did – as I write this I have yet to be proven wrong, albeit I fully expect to be. You don’t toy with the honour of a Japanese company and its heritage lightly. The images of the cars are there for all to see – and yet COULD it all be a spoof, mocked up with high-powered technological help from AI?
There was evidence of something similar on Tuesday, albeit rather more transparently so from the charity which operates the county’s air ambulance. Proudly on ‘X’ it announced that it was expanding its service beyond the daily activities of saving human lives across a variety of counties such as our own. From now on, it said, it would be taking care of our furrier friends through the introduction of a new helicopter-borne pet rescue service, via a new machine which sports the registration G-PETZ. There was an example of the aforesaid aircraft too, pictured hovering amongst the trees where, presumably, Tibbles had got himself trapped. I bet the fire service was either outraged, or at least surprised that a big yellow chopper should be about to fly into one of its less intensely blue-lighted spheres of activity. Or maybe it was the fact that the air ambulance team had managed to both exercise a little humour and highlight its true service which comes without direct cost to the taxpayer or national lottery. Either way, in reality the April Fool prank was sufficiently transparent to stick in the mind with the consumer but without being taken so seriously as to cause outrage.
There are also the announcements which have nothing at all to do with April Fool’s Day and which sit starkly with such trivialities. The shooting dead of a man outside Milton Keynes rail station by Thames Valley Police at lunchtime on Tuesday gave a sharp tug back to reality, as did the media reporting of the apparent conscription of another 160,000 young men in Russia, called up to military service, even if not to deployment in Ukraine for what Vladimir Putin still calls his country’s ‘Special Operation’. Certainly not a prank, you wonder what Russian families must make of it all with the operation having gone on for over three years and seemingly at great cost. With other European nations moving to do likewise and to arm accordingly, and the escalation seems to be accelerating at an alarming pace. The world is now looking to the Oval Office for more than news of the latest tariff announcements by Executive Order – that news needs to be good too, or at least optimistic.
Still, thank goodness for the corporate sense of humour of Silverstone Circuit. On Tuesday it announced that in support of the Highway Code which all UK road users are obliged to have more than a passing awareness of (some do), it would shortly be replacing all of the corners on the legendary track, with roundabouts. Giving way at over 200 miles per hour would be a sport of its own – and fascinating to a global market. I wonder what Max Verstappen’s response would be to such momentous news.
Don’t believe everything you read – especially around April 1st.