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It’s the most wonderful day of the year — April Fool’s Day — when brands around the world fall all over themselves trying to make an impact on social media. Some brands manage to come up with a good joke, while others fall on their faces. Regardless, it’s fun to watch.
And there’s quite a bit to see, with more than 2.1 million social posts in honor of the day having been created in the past 24 hours, according to social media analytics firm, Talkwalker.
Here’s a gag that’s already our favorite: Google added a feature in Calendar settings that lets you “Play A Game.” Click it and you get to shoot down your meetings with a laser cannon, complete with a “ping ping” sound. Google, can this become a year-round feature? We’ve got a lot of meetings. And we mean A LOT.
While Microsoft sent out a company-wide memo forbidding April Fool’s jokes (“These stunts have limited positive impact and can actually result in unwanted news cycles,” Microsoft marketing head Chris Capossela told staff), Google went all out, also temporarily adding a game to Google Maps that allows people to play classic video game “Snakes” in their favorite city. That stunt garnered nearly 10,000 mentions across social media, the most of any April Fool’s Day related post, according to Talkwalker.
Google Netherlands added a fake feature to Google Translate called Google Tulip that allows people to talk to tulips in their native language as God intended.
Also in close running for our favorite is BBC’s iPlayer’s “#SkiptheSex” button (video at top of post). “Fornication with the family? Skip. Titillation on the train? Skip. Intercourse with the in-laws? Skip.” We think this is simply genius. Many Brits agreed and also suggested a “Skip Brexit” button.
Sticking with things that should become real, online dating app Tinder said it was adding a “height verification” feature. “It’s come to our attention that most of you 5’10ers out there are actually 5’6. The charade must stop. This type of dishonestly doesn’t just hurt your matches — it hurts us, too,” Tinder noted on its blog. Also did you know that only 14.5 percent of men in the U.S. are six feet tall or higher?
Tennis’ US Open posted a picture of a corgi puppy, saying puppies were becoming part of the ballsperson team at the 2019 open. Looking at the below photo, we see no reason why that should not happen:
There were also a few April Fool’s Jokes that people seemed to fall for: such as the idea that TV star and survivalist Bear Grylls would be leading an expedition of Boy Scouts to the moon. But a close reading of the proposed mission’s launch date — April 1, 2021 — reveals the post’s true nature.
New England Patriots quarterback and Super Bowl champion Tom Brady got some fans shook when he tweeted that “I’m retiring. In my spare time, I’ll be tweeting.” That Tweet scored more than 1,500 mentions and helped make the NFL the ninth-most mentioned brand on April Fool’s, said Talkwalker.
Meanwhile, Vice Media — which has made its name with such shows as Cannabis Self Care, Blunt Reviews and High Society — stuck with the tried and true, tweeting out this old chestnut:
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