I did state it in the plural. I didn't know who the other people were that were hit off hand, so I just used Blade's name and added "and such" to pluralize it. No, the others are not any less important. I didn't say that they were. I said you should have told all of the sacrificial lambs.
How about using people who would not tell the secret? Or using people whose personalities you are sure would be able to handle the joke even without being told that it is a joke? If you can't find such people, perhaps personal pranks are not the best way to pull an April Fool's joke. I remember freaking out about the Digimasters thing a while back when I was like thirteen. It may not be what you think is the "funniest" option, but if you believe that keeping a joke a secret is more important than considering the feelings of others, I would be highly concerned about your priorities.