Intro
It's that time of the year again, April 1st - commonly known as April Fools day. This "joyous" day is typically "celebrated" by playing practical jokes and/or hoaxes on one another. Not only in person - these types of celebrations have become a tradition for websites and digital media as well. Whether a fake product/service announcement or fun website Easter egg, April 1st is always an interesting (or frustrating) day to browser the internet. And each year we anxiously wait for what practical jokes our favorite websites have waiting for us. So let's take a look at some of Design Brooklyn's favorite 2013 April Fools jokes:
As (one of the) leaders in the online community, Google never disappoints with their yearly April Fools jokes. Every year they release a number of highly anticipated fake products and service announcements. Let's take a look at a few of our favorites from this year:
Youtube:
YouTube announced they will be shutting down YouTube.com at midnight on April Fools. The site's shutdown will help facilitate the process of picking the winner of their eight year long contest (the purpose of launching YouTube.com) - to find the best video ever created. Once the video has been selected (in 2023), the website will relaunch to display only one video, the winner of the contest.
The best part of the joke is their live stream announcing first round nominees - that went on for 12 hours. The stream had two announcers announcing videos and their descriptions for 12 hours straight.
Google (Nose):
Announced in "BETA" stage, Google Nose allows you to find out what your search queries smell like. So how does it work?
- Street Sense vehicles have inhaled and indexed millions of atmospheric miles.
- Android Ambient Odor Detection collects smells via the world's most sensible mobile operating system.
- SMELLCD™ 1.8+ high-resolution compatible for precise and controlled odors.
Google Maps (Treasure Mode):
While shooting a video in the Indian Ocean, Google's street view team discovered a treasure map belonging to the infamous pirate William "Captain" Kidd. Using their custom digital scanner, Google has digitized the map and uploaded to Google maps for everyone to access online.
Google Analytics:
If you use Google Analytics for your website, you would have been surprised yesterday with 41 unexpected visitors - from the International Space Station.
Gmail (Blue):
Introducing the new and improved Gmail - in blue.
Twitter (Twttr):
Twitter announced they will transition into a two-tiered system. Their basic (free) service, Twttr, only allows you to use consonants. For $5/month, Twitter offers their premium service which includes vowels.
Apple (iPlay):
Apple announced on IGN, iPlay , their revolutionary game console system - for playing Angry birds.
We were actually pretty excited to try out Angry Birds: The Fast and the Furious.
Toshiba(sphere):
Toshiba also announced their first game console system, The Shibasphere.
Seamless (Deluxe Delivery):
Seamless announced a new upgrade to their service called Deluxe Delivery. Starting April 1st, you will have three new delivery options with every seamless.com order.
- Supermodel Delivery: “Did somebody order food?” she asks in a sultry voice, red lipstick drawing your eyes to every word as if they’re subtitles to the greatest food delivery movie ever made.
- Adonis Delivery Guy: Our restaurant partner’s delivery guys are awesome, but what if you had the option to upgrade to a real quadruple threat? He sings. He acts. He models. He delivers!
- Surprise Me! Whether you’re bored with your standard delivery guy or you just want to see if your co-workers are paying attention, this option is a different surprise every time you select it!
REI (Adventure Kitten Gear):
No adventure doggie gear? Maybe next year.
Pineapple Express 2 Trailer:
Trailer for the sequel to the popular Pineapple Express. Sadly it was only an April Fools joke... or is it?
BONUS:
A special message from the President:
