No, you didn’t click on a broken link. This April Fools’ article you were looking for expired at 11:59 p.m. on April 1.
Here’s why:
While we find our annual jokes pretty funny on April 1 – and hope you did, too – 20-plus years of experience shows our readers are less amused for the next 364 days. Even jokes told in good fun can be misconstrued when taken out of context.
The OnMilwaukee April Fools’ tradition stretches back to 2001, according to founder and Publisher Andy Tarnoff. Back in college, Andy says April Fools’ Day was a beloved special edition that helped writers at his school newspaper, The GW Hatchet, blow off steam with some not-so-gentle and very profane satire, and it was a practice he wanted to continue when he started OnMilwaukee.com in 1998.
Over the years, the OnMilwaukee April Fool’s edition has ruffled more than a few feathers, although its content rarely extends beyond a PG-13 rating.
Andy and other early staffers remember angry phone calls and emails, especially one from the Milwaukee City Attorney who called him a lowlife, and a local TV exec who didn’t find it funny when our staff Photoshopped a sign on his weather dog that read, “Need more bitches.” Or the microbrewery that is still annoyed that we promoted their Milorganite beer. Or the suburban police department that didn’t like our implication that its keystone cops couldn’t find the Milwaukee Lion, or its friend, Barry the Ocelot. And on and on.
But the staff of OnMilwaukee has pulled the wool over so many eyes, we’ve lost count. Despite the ridiculous photos and outlandish articles, there was the time when a TV reporter took our story about “freedom fries” at Bastille Days in 2003 and ran with it as real news. (Sorry, East Town Association.) Or the angry calls to Betty Brinn Children’s Museum after we announced that the museum was opening a bar for stressed-out parents. (Sorry, Betty Brinn.) Or when the local newspaper made its own version of our April Fool’s joke that they called “The Leek,” as a play on The Onion. It wasn’t very funny, and needless to say, it didn’t come back the next year.
Speaking of The Onion: Yes, we get it. We’re big fans, and no, we’re not trying to be them. Except for one day per year – although we do spend months coming up with stories for one silly day.
And then they disappear, forever, except for in our collective memory.
So, why do we do it? Mostly, because April Fools’ Day provides both our readers and our staff a much-needed laugh. We don’t aim to hurt anyone’s feelings – in recent years, for example, we made the decision to avoid any pandemic jokes. We’ll poke fun at anyone and everyone, including ourselves.
Also, though, it’s a team-wide effort. The planning meetings start in early spring, and everyone is invited to pitch ideas. Not only do our writers and designers touch every article, but our development team and salespeople participate in all parts of the creative process. While we might start with 100 topics, we all slice and dice and “funny them up,” and that’s why you don’t see any bylines on these articles. We tweak parts of our back end, too, like turning off RSS feeds that would remain visible on April 2. Everyone chips in, because our analytics show that a large percentage of the visitors who come to OnMilwaukee on April 1 are seeing us for the first time ever. We’d like them to return when we get back to business the next day.
On that note, historically, April 1 is our most-read day of the year, and some of the stories have gone viral in a time when Facebook and Twitter didn’t even exist yet. Traffic is typically three times higher than an average day, sometimes more. Social media just makes it better. No matter how insane we go – and believe us, you have to get in a special state of mind to write “Kathy Mykleby changes her name, and face, to Michael Kathyby” – thousands fall for it every single time.
But wait, there's more ...
What's not a joke, though, is Milwordle, our Milwaukee-ized version of your favorite five-letter word game. Ours is different from what you play each day because it includes proper nouns as well as regular words, all connected to Milwaukee in some way. It’s hard and it’s fun, and we’ve been playing it ourselves and having a blast. You can find it here.
One more thing ...
And, if you're new here, let us take the time to introduce you to OnMilwaukee. We like to think we have a sense of humor the other 364 days of the year, but we also write a bunch of serious and informative articles and guides, too. In fact, we've published more than 60,000 stories during our many years on the scene. We make it easy to find them, too. You can just use the /on prefix to search our site by content. For example:
- https://onmilwaukee.com/on/brewers
- https://onmilwaukee.com/on/summerfest
- https://onmilwaukee.com/on/bars
You get the point. Give it a try!
Join the Squad!
And if you like what you see, come hang out with us and get access to even more OnMilwaukee as well as to even more of Milwaukee! The OnMilwaukee Squad is our special membership group that gets you into even more awesome events and places around Brew City, making you the ultimate insider. And as if that wasn't enough, today you can join for 50 percent off your first year and snag a spot on our Tavern Tours email list by signing up RIGHT HERE!
Anyways, we’re honored that you found our effort funny. We’re flattered even if you didn’t. And we’re all laughing with you, too.
