In Search of the Purr-fect Prank
Editor’s Note: This article previously appeared in a different format as part of The Atlantic’s Notes section, retired in 2021.
National Geographic offers an early contender for most awww-worthy prank for the day:
BREAKING: National Geographic will immediately stop publishing nude animal pictures. https://t.co/mFz5WzL0Mc pic.twitter.com/0voR1PMUuj
— Nat Geo Photography (@NatGeoPhotos) April 1, 2016
Oops. If posting nude animal pictures is a sin, I’m guilty.
On their website, National Geographic fesses up to the prank, offering a slideshow of “real, quirky snapshots of well-dressed cats and dogs, created by photographer Harry Whittier Frees in the early 1900s.” Behold, tiny kittens in clothes:
Well played.