Salt in your coffee, “kick me” notes on your back, and xeroxed copies of rear-ends on the work copying machine, yep. It’s April Cruel Day. On the other hand, some find it an opportunity to pull silly jokes, give the group chat a good laugh, or just have some harmless fun. We wanted to know: with such a stark divide on the holiday, where does the nation sit?
We surveyed 3,000 Americans to determine the true sentiment of the holiday. For those participating, we wanted to know what pranks they’re planning to pull, who they’re pulling them on, and more. For the naysayers, we were curious to learn what makes April Fool’s a negative for them. When we realized most negativity surrounding April Fool’s Day pertained to the workplace, we ran follow-up data to dig deeper. Combining the findings, we got some interesting insights on the prankster’s holiday.
Key Findings:
86% of respondents said that April Fools’ pranks were inappropriate in an office setting
Of the pranks that workers plan to pull, “jump scares” were stated at the most popular by 51%
32% said they found April Fool’s annoying, 26% found it fun, and 32% described it as “harmless”
April Cruel’s Day in the workplace, How Americans feel about office pranks
Dwight Schrute, from the famed The Office show, screams “Argh, he put my stuff in Jello again!” Over the span of nine seasons, Jim pulled 117 pranks around the office, some seemingly harmless, like paying his coworkers five dollars to call Dwight “Dwayne” for an entire day, while others not so much.
When asked, an overwhelming 86.3% of respondents said that pranks were inappropriate in the workplace. 82% said pranks should be reserved only for settings amongst friends. The prank is in the eye of the beholder, which is why the majority felt that the workplace is not the place to do it.
If you are insistent on pulling a gag, Americans noted “jump scares” as the most harmless prank to pull by 50.7%. Prank calls were also deemed 47% acceptable, followed by plastic bugs at 32% (ew).
And whatever you do, don’t pull a Sabrina Carpenter and fake a pregnancy for April Fool’s Day. 92% of respondents found fake pregnancy pranks to be a big no-no.
Pranksters of America: states, demographics, and more
Some of us are more inclined to practical jokes than others. A whoopee cushion under the seat gives some a chuckle and others an eye roll. Who enjoys this day of tomfoolery the most?
Our hats are off to Montana for first place, earning the highest participation rate in the country for April Fool’s Day. 63% are keen to a jump scare joke while another 50% find prank calls and plastic bugs fun for April Fool’s Day. Only 13% of the Big Sky Country state found the holiday to be a negative. Prank on, Montana!
Rhode Island and Louisiana came their respective second and third places for prank participation. On the other side of the silliness spectrum, West Virginia maintains a stern dissent towards the holiday with 97% claiming they won’t be participating this year.
Age plays a factor too. Interestingly, both young and old like the April Fool’s holiday. The age groups 18-25 years old gave the holiday the highest rating of 5/10, as did the 60+ community. It was the age brackets between 26-59 years old that hovered only slightly above 4.1/10, a 20% difference between the two scores.
And what about the battle of the sexes? Only 18% of women regularly participate in April Fool’s Day. Comparatively, nearly a quarter of men participate in April Fool’s Day every year in some capacity. Transgender respondents answered 56% “no” to participating in April Fool’s Day.
Most prankster city goes to…
Where is the prank capital of the US? Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania takes the clown crown with the highest participation in April Fool’s Pranks amongst all major US cities. 75% of “yinzers” shared positive sentiments towards the holiday. Dallas comes in second place as America’s antics capital with 73% speaking highly of the holiday. St. Louis, Detroit, and Los Angeles earned the respective third, fourth, and fifth places.
The Summary Stunt
You might want to hold off on your fake lottery winnings as most Americans simply aren’t in the mood this year. With a narrow number of 20% planning to participate in April Fool’s Day 2024, a knock-knock joke might be a better alternative.
If you can’t resist the call to high jinks, we recommend you keep it light. Americans signal the “OK” for jokes like jump scares, prank calls, and plastic bugs, but anything more serious might be frowned upon. Happy Pranksgiving to all!
Methodology
In March 2024, we surveyed 3,000 Americans asking a number of questions regarding sentiment surrounding April Fool’s Day, prank culture, and more. The age range was between 18-65 with all participants residing in the United States. Over half — 56% — were female, 42% were male, 1% identified as trans or non-binary, and 1% listed “other”.
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