Pop Culture Happenings: April

April is the month for jokes, hoaxes and illusions. Below are some fools fooling and being fooled.

__1973__

50 years ago

On April 2, 1973, John Lennon and Yoko Ono founded the country of Nutopia. In comical protest of Lennon’s ongoing immigration struggles, he and Ono declared themselves ambassadors of the “conceptual” country and demanded diplomatic immunity in order to remain in the United States. Lennon proclaimed Nutopia would live up to the ideals of his song “Imagine.” In a declaration, Lennon wrote that Nutopia had no land, boundaries or laws, only people. Anyone could be a citizen simply by declaring awareness of Nutopia. Lennon said the Nutopian flag was all white, and he featured the “Nutopian International Anthem” on his album “Mind Games” (1973), which consisted of four seconds of silence. Lennon’s deportation order was overturned in 1975. The following year, he received his green card, certifying his permanent residency.

__1983__

40 years ago

Illusionist David Copperfield was at the height of his popularity when, on April 8, 1983, he amazed both a live and televised audience by making the Statue of Liberty disappear. Copperfield hid Lady Liberty behind a giant curtain attached to two lateral scaffoldings built on Liberty Island. When the curtain was dropped, Liberty was gone. Copperfield said he wanted people to imagine what it would be like if there were no liberty or freedom in the world today and what the world would be like without the freedoms and rights we enjoy. Copperfield then brought the statue back, ending the illusion by saying that “our ancestors couldn’t [enjoy rights and freedoms]; we can, and our children will.”

__1998__

25 years ago

A fool in the court of the Burger King served up a whopper on April 1, 1998, when they took out a full-page ad in USA Today proclaiming the creation of the Left-Handed Whopper. The ad stated all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees to suit their left-handed burger aficionados. Southpaw customers apparently swallowed the story whole and reportedly swarmed Burger King restaurants to finally have it their way.