Snacking Mugabe, flying penguins greet April Fools

By Paul Casciato and Belinda Goldsmith

LONDON/SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - Flying penguins, lampooned heads of state, foul-mouthed chefs gone polite and a car that repels full-bladdered dogs topped the list of April Fool pranks around the world on Tuesday.

An elaborate BBC video of flying penguins topped a rich offering of spoofs in Britain that included Gordon Ramsay and a full-page advert from BMW.

The Independent newspaper reported that expletive-spouting TV chef Ramsay was banning swearing in all his restaurants after Australian authorities refused an application for him to set up an eatery on the grounds of "decency."

The BMW advert, carried in several newspapers, purported to introduce Canine Repellent Alloy Protection, an ingenious system of delivering an electric shock to any dog thinking of relieving itself against a BMW wheel.

The Daily Telegraph featured a story based on BBC footage of a colony of penguins that flies thousands of miles to the rainforests of South America to sunbathe (here).

With an eye to last week's French state visit, the Sun said diminutive President Nicolas Sarkozy will be stretched five inches to help him see eye to eye with supermodel wife Carla Bruni.

Cypriots woke to "news" in the Cyprus Mail that the European Union had introduced nano technology which ensured eight hours of sleep every night, allowed bosses to keep eye on sleepy employees and traffic police to nab drowsy drivers.

In the United States, newspaper publisher Tribune Co said it will rename itself ZellCoMediaEnterprises Inc and featured pictures of dogs on its Web site. The site also featured a ticking "DEBToMETER," referencing the debt taken on as part of the company's leveraged buyout led by real estate tycoon Sam Zell, and a "TipJar" labeled "Hey buddy, help a paper out?"

Nestle's U.S. unit announced it was changing the name of its Butterfinger candy bar to the "The Finger," which it described as "a shorter, more contemporary name while acknowledging the long heritage of the brand."

MUGABE'S LATE NIGHT SNACK

In southern Africa, Zimbabwe's election provided rich material for the newspapers, with front page stories mocking President Robert Mugabe. Johannesburg paper the Times said Mugabe had been seen around the grounds of the official residence of South African President Thabo Mbeki, who has faced criticism over his "quiet diplomacy" that has failed to end Zimbabwe's crisis.

"I saw a Mugabe looking in the fridge last night. Mbeki is clearly too embarrassed to entertain Mugabe at meal-time," the paper quoted a witness as saying.

It quoted a Mugabe spokesman named as "Roli Flapo" as saying it was "no business of the Western, imperialist, reactionary media whether or not a comrade visits a fridge at any time of day or night."

In Australia, various companies and media organizations got into the swing of April 1 when pranks are allowed until noon with a range of hoaxes designed more to amuse than trick people.

Google Australia announced that it was to launch a new feature "enabling you to search for content on the Internet before it is created" so you could get tomorrow's news today including share prices and sports results. (here).