Daily newspaper Fréttabladid ran a story on its front page yesterday about Shell gas station on Bústadavegur in Reykjavík offering a generous discount on fuel prices for two hours yesterday. Since fuel prices are skyrocketing, many hoped to make a bargain.
In the Icelandic media there is a tradition of “April fooling,” that is, tricking people into going somewhere on April Fool’s Day.
According to manager of Shell gas station on Bústadavegur Jóhanna Berndsen, drivers queued up to fill up their tanks with the unusually cheap gas on offer yesterday.
“I’m sure nearly 200 people came here yesterday morning and many called and asked for information. Other stations were also crowded with drivers who wanted to take advantage of this offer,” Berndsen told Fréttabladid. “One called from the countryside. I stopped the guy when he was about to drive into town.”
Berndsen said most people took the joke well and left the Shell station a little redder in the face when they realized that they had been “April fooled.”
Other media outlets published fake news stories yesterday as well. Morgunbladid announced that Bob Dylan, who will play in Iceland in May, would hold an outdoor concert in central Reykjavík while RÚV reported that the new Grímsey island ferry, which has caused much debate, would make its maiden voyage from the Akureyri harbor yesterday.
