The April Fool Archive

Flavored Newspaper Page    (April Fool's Day - 2010)

On page 17 of its print edition, The Sun announced that it was proud to offer the "world's first flavoured PAGE." Readers were invited to lick a white square that bore the message "Lick Here." However, the square also carried the warning, "May contain nuts."

The flavor of the page was not revealed. Instead readers were asked to email The Sun with their "taste test results."


Although The Sun's flavored page was a joke, it's claim that this would have been the world's first such page was not accurate. In 2008 Welch's grape juice had run an actual lickable ad in People magazine. And in 2009, Russian Standard Vodka ran ads purporting be "lickverts" — ads dipped in vodka that could be licked to taste the drink. The lickverts were an April Fool's Day joke.

The Sun today makes newspaper history — with the world's first flavoured PAGE.

Our ink-redible printing breakthrough comes after we teamed up with Brit boffins.

It means readers can lick this page to reveal a hidden taste. The revolution follows TV chef Heston Blumenthal, 43, unveiling lickable wallpaper.

On his special Willy Wonka-themed show Chocolate Factory Feast, celebs tried rolls tasting of prawn cocktail and tomato soup.

Our newly-patented printing process uses chemicals called hydrocolloids. They collide with each other to spread over tastebuds.

Now we want you to test our page here and guess the taste.

A spokesman for News International revealed: "We have exciting plans for multi-sensory branding of The Sun."

This is a hugely revolutionary process which we have been working on in conditions of the utmost secrecy.

It has taken years of research and development.

With practice and patience, successful taste pages can be regularly produced in a newspaper. Today's world first is just a flavor of what is to come in the 21st century — as The Sun leads the way.

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