April Fools’ is known as the day of mischief and lies, and tech companies tend to have the most fun with it.
For the past few years tech giants and corporate brands have released hoax products and advertisements on April 1. This year is no different. Almost every major tech company and brand released fake commercials of products that are completely ridiculous. Some of the advertisements are funny, others are just silly.
Samsung released a smart knife and HTC released a smart sock. Google reversed its search engine to com.google and Amazon redesigned its homepage to mimic its 1999 the design.
Here are some the most “hilarious” pranks on the Internet today:
Hinge for Toddlers
“Coming soon to a sandbox near you…” Hinge released a video with a new dating app that caters to singles between the ages of 2 and 5. The idea of Hinge for Toddlers, of course, is silly. However, the ad is somewhat enjoyable and funny. Anything with kids can be adorable and funny, really.
Netflix Binge Watching
Netflix also knows how to do humor right. The online streaming service filmed short videos featuring Netflix original actors that advise viewers to “Binge responsibly.” The 30-second videos pop up when a user watches two or more episodes in a row. Some of the videos advise viewers to get back to the real world and see their friends, others advise to go take a shower. To watch all the clips you can, search for “Binge Responsibility” on Netflix.
YouTube Darude Sandstorm
YouTube is being a little overzealous with Darude Sandstorm today. When a user searches for any video, YouTube will suggest “Did you mean: Darude – Sandstorm by Darude.” YouTube also placed a music icon at the bottom right corner of the video screen that plays Sandstorm over any video every time it’s pressed. To be honest, that song plays well over any video.
Selfie Shoes
Selfie sticks are now passé. It’s all about the Selfie Shoe now. Miz Mooz released a hilarious ad for its new Selfie show, which allows users to attach their phones to their shoes, lift their leg and take great shots of themselves. Given the success of the selfies, it’s not that hard to believe that people would actually buy this if it were to be real.
Samsung Blade Edge
The world already has smartglasses, smartwatches, smartfridges, etc. So why not have a smart kitchen knife? Samsung released the Blade Edge, which is a clear kitchen knife with smart phone capabilities. You can chop some onions and make a call at the same time. If this product were to ever go on the market, it would probably make the company go bankrupt.
PlayStation Flow
PlayStation wants to literally submerge you into your gameplay with PlayStation Flow. This fake product allows gamers to go for a swim in the real world in order to control their character in the game. Given the fact that users can already do similar things with virtual reality, PlayStation’s ad doesn’t seem that silly.
Grouber
It’s like Uber, but a cat drives you around. Groupon released a fake new service where people can request a ride-share from a small and adorable feline. Although this idea would be insane, it’s hard to deny the fact that the world hasn’t dreamt of this before.
Amazon 1999
Amazon jumped on a time machine and took everyone back to 1999. The online retail giant redesigned its front page to look like it did back in the 20th century. The webpage is just a disguise, though. Users can’t navigate in 1999-style. As soon as they click anywhere, the page goes back to looking like it does now.
Com.google
If you’ve ever tried writing backwards you know how frustrating it could be. Well, typing backwards is just as frustrating. Google created com.google for April Fools’ Day and it shows everything in reverse. The domain is reverse, the layout is reversed and the words are in reverse. You will flip out after looking at things in reverse and want to go back to the original.
HTC re SOK
You don’t like the idea of a smart kitchen knife? Then you might want to check out HTC’s smartsock. The re SOK gives users real-time notifications so they don’t ever miss a text message, call or Tweet while they are crossing their feet. This would simply never be successful in the consumer market. Unless it was a cheap tech product available at the $1 store.
Uber for Tinder // Tinder for Uber
Uber and Tinder partnered up this April Fools’ Day to create phony apps for each other. Uber for Tinder allows users on Tinder to automatically request a ride to meet their match on Uber. Tinder for Uber will let users take a chance at matching with an Uber driver. If there’s a match, the Uber driver will split the fare.
Cheese Cleanse
FreshDirect, just in time for the national prank holiday of April 1, is putting the “fat” in unfathomable by revealing its first-ever all-cheese diet regimen. This honestly sounds better than the juice and sugar cleanse.
T-Mobile Pets Unleashed
T-Mobile wants to sell you even more unwanted data plans. This time the plan is for the family members you truly love: your pets. T-Mobile’s Pets Unleashed ad managed to be funny and adorable because of all the animal cameos. Who doesn’t like animals?
Moto Selfie Stick
Motorola took selfies sticks to a whole other level with the Moto Selfie Stick. Although the ad for the selfie stick is fake, and it’s meant to be an April Fools’ Day joke, it is actually pretty cool. The Moto Selfie Stick is the selfie stick that everyone truly wants. They are made out of wood, leather and other cool, stylish materials. If selfie sticks are here to stay, they should at least be stylish.
Smartbox by Inbox
This new fake service would be ideal for those who love snail mail. Smartbox introduces a “revolutionary” mailbox that let people receive and send ordinary mail the way it has been done for years.
Panda
Google Japan released “Google Panda,” which is engineered with state of the art emotional and conversational intelligence. Although it’s creepy that a fake panda would talk back to you, it seems like a pretty good product to market to children. It’s only every child’s dream to talk to their pets and other animals.
