April Fools' Day Tech Shenanigans: A Look Back at the Best Hoaxes
April Fools' Day is a widely celebrated tradition that is often honored by various brands. Tech companies are also known for taking part in the celebration by showcasing their wit through playful and elaborate hoaxes.
However, some companies managed to take it to the next level by becoming one of the most memorable and iconic tech April Fools' pranks. Since the early days of media from radio to television up to the days of the digital age, companies have been keeping up with the yearly tradition.
From the legendary "Spaghetti Trees" broadcast by the BBC to Google's infamous "Gmail Mic Drop" feature, here are some other April Fools' Day jokes that remain embedded in our minds:
In 1957, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) aired a news report about a remarkable discovery. The program "Panorama" shared that spaghetti trees are being grown in Switzerland.
The footage managed to look real as it featured Swiss farmers harvesting spaghetti from trees. The farmers also claimed that mild winter and the eradication of the spaghetti weevil caused a huge crop. The prank remained to be remarkable due to its advanced humor at the time when television was a relatively new medium.
Prior to Gmail's legit launch on April Fools' Day in 2004, Google had fun trolling its users every year. For instance, the company introduced a new feature called MentalPlex in 2000 which claimed to read users' minds.
The hoax became effective as many people tried to follow the instructions upon visiting the search engine. Users were promised to eliminate the need for typing or clicking. After trying it, a humorous error message will appear tricking the users that it was functioning despite showing no search result.
Rickroll
(Photo : Rick Astley via YouTube)
Rickrolling started as an internet phenomenon in the mid-2000s. The prank continues to be a prevalent meme up to this day. The term describes the act of tricking someone into watching a video and Rick Astley's 1987 hit song "Never Gonna Give You Up" will suddenly appear.
The prank has been used widely even outside the celebration of April Fools' Day. Despite its age, rickrolling remains an unexpected yet beloved internet meme that continues to provide a safe way to prank friends and other internet users.
Google's MicDrop
(Photo : Google)
In 2016, Google launched a MicDrop feature in Gmail. The prank allowed users to send an email with an animated GIF of minions dropping a microphone. The main point of the idea is to add a playful and humorous touch to the email.
However, the rollout of the prank backfired on Google when many users used the MicDrop button instead of the regular send button. This caused some misunderstanding and confusion, especially among those in the professional setting.
Netflix's Spoiler Foiler
(Photo : Netflix)
Netflix shows are prone to spoilers, especially now that we have a lot of social media platforms to share our thoughts. As a preventative measure, the streaming platform jokingly introduced Spoiler Foiler which is intended to block spoilers.
Although Spoiler Foiler was introduced as a joke, many users found it helpful due to the humor and creativity behind the concept. Many people also shared how it could easily address a common problem to watching shows.
