Mars Inc. ran a half-page ad in London's
Daily Telegraph announcing the introduction of left and right-handed versions of its signature candy bar. It explained that for years left-handed people had been opening the wrapper from the wrong end and consequently were "eating against the chocolate flow on the bar surface." Therefore, the wrapper would henceforth come in two different versions, marked "L" and "R", with a "tear here" perforation at the appropriate corner.
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Declaring that "there's nothing looney about the lefties," Toshiba announced the new "Toshiba Tecra F00-LDU" — a portable computer designed for left-handed users:
"The F00-LDU is a fully functional notebook packed with all the features you'd expect from the world leader in portable computing — only it fits left handed people like a glove. The major bays and keys are reversed for clarity and there's a stunning left handed screen."
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Burger King published a full page ad in
USA Today announcing the introduction of a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. The new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments had been rotated 180 degrees, "thereby redistributing the weight of the sandwich so that the bulk of the condiments will skew to the left, thereby reducing the amount of lettuce and other toppings from spilling out the right side of the burger."
The next day Burger King revealed that thousands of customers had gone into its restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously "many others requested their own 'right handed' version."
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Virgin Mobile announced that it would be offering a left-handed Sony Ericsson LH-Z200 mobile phone: "Designed with a reversed keypad layout, the buttons are switched from right to left instead of standard left to right… This simple but clever design makes dialling, texting and menu navigation quicker and easier for anyone left-handed." A number of technology sites fell for the joke.
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Sports manufacturer Dunlop announced plans to offer a golf ball designed specifically for left-handed players. Dunlop CEO Chris Ronnie explained:
"Left-handed golf clubs are now commonplace, but no company has yet produced a left-handed golf ball... Many golfers mark their ball with an ink image or even a printed logo to help them focus on the ball at the position of address. The Dunlop Lefty will assist left-handed golfers with a strategically placed, ergonomically designed Dunlop arrow, which points from the left-hand side of the ball to the right, thus indicating the correct position of ball focus for the player."
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UK bakery chain Sayers announced the launch of a new "left-handed sandwich" designed to fit more comfortably in the left hand and result in fewer embarrassing "spills."
All the ingredients in the left-handed sandwich had been rotated 180 degrees in order to redistribute the weight of the sandwich, so that the bulk of them skewed to the left. The packaging was also altered so that the door opened to the left.
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On April Fool's Day 2012, Australia's Vapiano pizza chain announced that "after years of trying we've perfected the left-handed pizza!
An accompanying announcement explained that the left-handed pizza was "designed to work with the angular contours of the left metacarpals and phalanges so now lefties can enjoy their pizzas without being ridiculed by the others for not getting a grip on the tasty dish."
IKEA ran an ad in Australian papers apologizing to customers who had received left-handed allen keys with a product. "To exchange your incorrect key," the ad said, "we'll provide a swap box at the store entrance."
An illustration showed the difference between an "erroneous left-handed allen key" and a "correct right-handed allen key."
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The Dogs Trust charity announced it was specially training dogs to fit the needs of left-handed owners. It was doing this by "reprogramming" the brains of the dogs to stop them from pulling to the right and entangling their leftie masters in the leads while on long walks. It was using a method of training known as "Polar Foil" developed to stop Huskies veering off course in the Arctic, but never before used to train domestic animals
Dogs Trust noted it was doing this in order to comply with the "European Commission's equality directive, detailing equal opportunities for left handed citizens."
Nicky-Tams Bar & Bothy located in Stirling, Scotland
announced that it was seeking volunteers to try "new innovative left-handed glassware." Those who showed up were served regular pint glasses.
Claiming that "America has spoken, and we at Cottonelle have listened," Cottonelle introduced ReverseRipple™ toilet paper, specially designed "for left-handed wipers."
Clay Shooting magazine reported that the Italian company Persevier Cartucce was now offering shotgun ammunition specially designed for left-handed shooters. The company had introduced a new design technique to manufacture this lefty ammunition. This involved "moving all the loading machines to the opposite side of the factory."
The police in Manitoba announced that every front-line officer would be supplied with left-handed handcuffs "to accommodate left-handed individuals who get arrested." A police spokesman noted, "Right-handed cuffs were causing a lot of discomfort to left-handed people, so this is a very positive and proactive step."
Hayman Distillery announced that in a "bid to better support the left-handed bartending community" it would be making its English Gins available in left-handed bottles.
