by Lydia Tan
It’s that time of the year again: That one day where you cannot trust anyone for fear of falling victim to a clever prank. Brands are taking advantage of this day to get creative with their fake ads to fool gullible consumers. But some things are too weird to be true (like Donald Trump becoming the President of the USA). Here are some things that are so bizarre they seem like jokes but are in fact very real.
Bubble tea hotpot
Original video: Elissa Chen on FB
Bubble tea is undeniably becoming a popular trend in Asia, so much that we’re seeing bubble tea pearls on food items like pizza and pastries — even in Singapore, we had the Breadtalk bubble tea buns and toast a while back. But the weirdest bubble tea fusion food is probably this bubble tea hotpot.
This hotpot is essentially what you think it is: milk tea or a milk-and-tea-infused broth cooked with tapioca pearls and other ingredients. It has apparently popped up in countries like Taiwan and Canada, and has been around from as early as 2012. It can come in “dessert” form with ingredients like nata de coco, jelly and sweet potato bits, or a savoury version, which contains traditional steamboat ingredients inside, like meat and vegetables.
Photo via http://www.pinkypiggu.com/
The idea of drinking hot, boiling milk tea may be just a little weird but people who have tried it have said that it doesn’t taste bad and the tapioca pearls add a different texture to the whole dish. If you’re curious to try this for yourself, Spice World at Clarke Quay serves up the bubble tea hotpot with dessert and savoury ingredients.
The Nike Air Max 1 Golf (Grass)
Fashion designers are always looking for ways to create eye-catching designs that break conventions and have that “wow” factor, and these Nike Air Max 1 Golf shoes are one such example. These shoes were created using the original Air Max 1 design for this year’s PGA tour, a major golf tournament for US golfers, and is covered in this synthetic furry material that looks like grass on a golf turf.
It is unclear whether these shoes are still retailing or if they are sold in Singapore but they were worn during the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open as part of a limited edition Lawn Party Pack. If you thought these shoes were eccentric, this collection also included a pair of shoes called “Payday” with “shredded money” printed on the soles. Talk about green fashion.
SPF’s Be the Poser in the Poster contest
Social media contests are common these days but this 2015 Facebook contest by the Singapore Police Force is probably one of those slightly questionable ones. This contest required applicants to send in a shot of their best reenactment of any National Crime Prevention Council crime prevention poster and caption it. Ten winners would then be selected to walk away with a digital photo frame.
This contest raised some eyebrows as people felt like the contest downplayed the severity of crime by getting people to reenact criminal acts and questioned if this will really effectively instill the message of crime prevention into the public’s minds. To add doubts to the legitimacy of this contest, the original Facebook post announcing the contest was posted on April Fools’ Day itself, leading people to question if this was just some prank contest the SPF came up with.
Mee Goreng candle
Scented candles come in all different scents, and in recent years, some companies have gotten creative by experimenting with different funky scents in their candles, from pizza-scented to the smell of The Times of New York newspaper. This candle from Australian pop-culture brand is one unconventional scent that might strike with Singaporeans.
If you want your house smelling like a piping hot bowl of Indomie, or you know a friend who’s a big instant noodles lover, you can get this candle at their website for about S$29.76 (before shipping costs). If mee goreng isn’t weird enough for you, you can try their bacon-scented candle or their garlic bread-scented one.
Guinness Singapore’s St Patrick’s Day 2019 campaign
Marketing campaigns can sometimes be a hit or miss, depending on the creative concept that goes behind it. This recent campaign by Guinness Singapore celebrated St Patrick’s Day by offering special deals from Grab and Redmart for all those named “Pat” in Singapore throughout the whole month of March — so that counts even if you’re a Patrick, Patricia or an Ah Pat. The highlight of the campaign was the St Patrick’s Festival that happened on 16 March, a time for the Pats to come together and celebrate with food, activities and goodies.
But what about those non-Pats? They still got some of the special deals and free entry to the festival. The campaign’s purpose was to share the St Patrick’s Day festivities with Singaporeans since it is not celebrated by most locals here. While this is an interesting concept, a campaign that gives out prizes based on your name does sound like something that could be a prank at first impression.
