Everyone loves a good joke, and over the years April Fool’s Day has brought us some great jokes and bits from a number of sites around the web. It’s come to be something we all expect on April 1st, especially from the big players on the web like Google on the tech side and Blizzard on the side of gaming. But that doesn’t mean that internet April Foolery is by any means a monopoly, and this year is no different. Tons of brands, from tech to financial services to news sites push their funnies to the web for users to find (and maybe believe!).
What makes a good April Fool’s joke though? I’ve been seeing these for years and years and all of my favorites have one thing in common. The joke is presented to be clearly absurd but at the same time it has to retain enough of an edge of reality to make me say “man I wish that were true.” And the more effort they put into the ruse, the better the payoff. So that said, here is Technical Fowl’s list of our favorite jokes on the web today.
In no particular order:
1. Google
This year Google is highlighting their “share location” feature on Google Maps, with none other than hide-and-seek champion extraordinaire, Waldo. Waldo “shares” his location with you around the world, and finding him and his friends unlocks further levels and searches, starting from (at least for me) a ski-themed Where’s Waldo image from the Andes Mountains in Chile. See if you can track Waldo and his traveling companions down on this 5 level hunt!
That may be fun, but not our favorite Google gag – that one comes from Google Israel. They’re touting their new “Google Hummus API,” which records users’ taste inputs to find their perfect hummus. I wish I had a hold of some taste API’s, I’d apply that to every food in the book. Hell, Yelp could hook into it and make a personal page for me and my taste profile for what kind of food I should be eating. Take a look below:
2. F&M Trust Online
The ATM. Whatever they’re called around your area (Philly brethren my age and I still call them MAC’s) they exist for one reason – being able to withdraw and deposit from your accounts without having to go inside and speak to a teller. F&M took it one step beyond with the AiTM, an AI-driven ATM that talks to the user. Starting out in a way that makes us think this is something that could be real, the AiTM eventually questions the customers’ use of cash, talks about sandwiches, and even asks a customer if she is single. Again, something that is clearly a farce but something I wish I had for fun whenever I had to hit up a MAC. Meet Adam the AiTM below:
3. World of Warcraft
Blizzard has traditionally given us something fun every year for April Fools, and this year the jokes are focused on their upcoming Battle for Azeroth expansion. While they have added patch notes for new micro holidays like “Looking fore Queue” and a holy-crap-I-wish feature that lets users mine “critcoin” via the “rock-chain” with wildly variable value, the real winner here is Rex the Lapwarmer.
Lex is shown to be a real life dog that comes with Battle for Azeroth, and is in fact, a very good boy. Well played, Blizzard.
Bork into battle with Rex the Lapwarmer, a very good boy coming with #BattleForAzeroth. Belly rubs optional. pic.twitter.com/gmiUBcSnTR
— World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) April 1, 2018
4. Netflix
Netflix has grown a reputation for scoring mega deals and publishing some solid original content, but today’s content takes the cake. Open up Netflix to see a 5 minute mockumentary detailing how Netflix has acquired Seth Rogen. That’s right – acquired the entire person of Seth Rogen himself. The short features Jeff Goldblum as Netflix’s AI negotiator, and shows the “behind the scenes” process of the, um… “acquisition” process. I’ll just say it’s rightfully rated TV-MA. Check out their press release here or log onto Netflix and watch this… thing.
5. Sodastream / SodaSoak
I for one love my Sodastream. I enjoy the crisp effervescence of a soda, and the liberties to drink it as is or to flavor it as I see fit. All without the unnecessary burden of sugar or calories. It’s wondrous. What I love even more is that Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, a.k.a Game of Thrones’ The Mountain, humongous individual, and one of the world’s strongest men, hilariously serves as Sodastream’s spokesperson. If you haven’t seen his “Heavy Bubbles” commercial, by all means, take a break from this post and go watch it here immediately. I’ll wait.
OK.
Well today he cameos in an ad with reality star Reza Farahan introducing SodaSoak, a Sodastream for your bathtub. Boasting three settings of “sparkling,” “dazzling,” and “ohmygosh,” I kind of do wish I had an on-demand hot tub with assorted scented oils. Because I am a damn gentleman.
6. Arby’s
Arby’s PR and social media team has the internet on lock, constantly pushing out ads and social campaigns featuring their food nearly cosplaying themes from movies, video games, and geek culture in general. Along with Wendy’s they rule fast food PR.
But today, they enter the world of fashion. Partnering with eyewear mogul Warby Parker, they have introduced Warby’s – a collaboration between the two for… meat and food-themed eyewear. Products include the onion ring monocle, and “The Angus” beef-patterned glasses frames. Now this takes the whole thing one step beyond April Fools – The glasses and additional merchandise are actually availaible to buy, and the onion monocle is actually available at two pop-up locations in New York. A lot of stuff is already sold out, so grab it while you can.
7. Razer
So, eSports. Right. I myself do not personally really enjoy watching others play games in an arena, and I don’t understand why those arenas are full. but hey, I’ve nearly made the full transition to grumpy old man, and I’m just a shade away from sitting on my porch with my offline storage and full tower desktop telling kids to get off my lawn. But what I do know is that marketing towards the competitive gaming scene is borderline mental, from gear to eyewear to caffeinated snacks designed to “give you that edge.” It’s that level of ridiculousness that makes me believe that while not a real thing, this is something Razer might actually have under development.
And that thing? Project Venom v2.
Project Venom v2 are nanobots for gamers to drink. Nano-enhancements provide the player “trigger finger,” “key storm,” and “eagle eyes” to increase map awareness and nervous system response time, so you can always shoot first and increase key press speeds to “over 9000 APM.”
Basically steroids for gamers, I fully believe every pro gamer would be on this were it truly available.
So that’s our list! Granted there are probably a ton more jokes I didn’t see but I can’t just sit on the internet all day.
..well I can, but that’s besides the point. Something I’ve left off? Found something you think is worthy of a mention? Leave a comment and share it with the world!
And just as a personal note from the Technical Fowl – the same kind of scrutiny you use on the web on April Fool’s day wondering what’s real and what’s not and doing research? Let’s try doing that every day!
