April Fool’s Flashback!

Five years ago I pulled this epic April Fool’s Day prank on a vacant lot about a mile up the street from our house. The lot had contained a BP gas station/auto repair business that had closed up about a year before, and the building had been razed the previous fall. It sat on the corner of a very busy road about 100 yards from the on/off ramps of a main metro highway, so it was a high traffic area. There was a lot of speculation as to what was going to be built on the lot, but so far no signage or any official word on it.

At 4 am on the morning of April 1, 2016, I put this 4’x8′ sign up I had made on the lot. The only clue it was a prank was a small Alfred E Neuman face at the bottom right corner.

Sadly it was a very windy day, so I twice had to go up there to fix the sign. I should have cut wind flaps in it, but I didn’t factor in the possibility of gale force winds. I took this photo at a little after 10 am after getting it back up for the second time. While I was doing that two guys from the City of Eagan pulled up. Apparently they had been getting calls at City Hall all morning asking about the new In-N-Out Burger coming to Minnesota. There was also a ton of comments on the city Facebook page. They had come out to investigate the sign. I had to fess up.

Their reaction? They were both really disappointed to learn it was a prank. Then they said they had no problem with my leaving it up as long as I promised to take it down after the day is over. Who said civil servants have no sense of humor??

There’s a Kwik Trip on that lot now. Their burgers suck.