It's that time again: April Fools' Day, when brands get rewarded for being deceptive, impractical and stupid. And hopefully, funny.
We're collecting our usual huge list of brand hoaxes. Email me or Tim with any we missed.
—Latest additions:
•Bloomingdale's
Launched its very first edible fragrance based on its classic frozen yogurt: Forty Carrots, the fragrance. The ad ran in The New York Times.
•Burger King France
The new menu item—single fries. Tasty, though an environmental disaster.
•Hamburger Helper
Dropped a surprisingly good rap album about food. "Hamburger helper/ Eat it all and then we dip/ On the stove so long I burn my lip."
•Hulu
Launched a dating site, HuluDATR,"a revolutionary new way to help soulmates find one another." The free app allows Hulu subscribers to opt in to a new experience "where love and television go hand-in-hand."
•National Geographic
No more nude animals pics for this brand.
BREAKING: National Geographic will immediately stop publishing nude animal pictures. https://t.co/mFz5WzL0Mcpic.twitter.com/0voR1PMUuj
— Nat Geo Photography (@NatGeoPhotos) April 1, 2016
•PlayStation
Made its game Dark Souls III into an '80s movie on VHS.
•ThirdLove/DogVacay
Shop a wide variety of dog bras, including the 24/7™ Lace Throw-The-Ball-conette Bra, the Plunge Pawfect Bra and the Front-Closure Pawsh-Up Bra.
•Turkey Hill
"Do you shake your iced tea? Many people do. That's why the Turkey Hill Research & Development team has spent countless hours developing a brand new device called the Tea Shaker. No more sore wrists and no more runaway bottles of tea!"
—First batch, posted 10:50 a.m. ET:
•Google/YouTube
Every year, Google does enough pranks that it earns its own special section.
—Google Cardboard
Created Google Cardboard Plastic, the first headset for Actual Reality.
—YouTube
Unveiled #Snoopavision, allowing you to watch any YouTube video in 360 with Snoop Dogg.
—Gmail
Introduced "Send + Mic Drop." As Google explained it, it you click the new "Send + Mic Drop" button, "everyone will get your message, but that's the last you'll ever hear about it. Yes, even if folks try to respond, you won't see it." Unfortunately, Gmail has nixed the button early, apparently because too many unsuspecting users accidentally sent unintended images of a Minion dropping a mic to people they didn't want to mute.
—Gmail Inbox
Created a fake Smart Reply feature, which chooses the right emoji for your reply automatically. Apparently, the right emoji is a poop emoji.
—Android Developer
Has taken Guardian into the Galaxy. Get it? It's a pun on Guardians of the Galaxy?
—Google Express
Is now delivering your stuff with actual parachutes. Because drones are SO last year.
—Google Japan
Announced Furikku, a flickable keyboard.
—Google Amp
Created a very large mobile page accelerator—roughly 24,901 miles in circumference.
—Google Photos
Is offering a Google Emoji search option. Yep, search photos by typing in an emoji.
—Google Maps
Has reskinned its pegman as a disco dancer. Click "Visit Funky Town in the Google Maps App" at the top of Google Maps and select your phone. You can then open your Google Maps app, choose "Explore Nearby" and then press "Funky Town" to see the Disco Pegman's cool dance.
—YouTube Red
If you really like pranks, YouTube Red's Prank Academy is launching today—wherein two popular YouTube prankster channels teamed up with Los Angeles Angels players Mike Trout, Jered Weaver, Kole Calhoun and CJ Cron to pull off an epic prank on teammate Garrett Richards. The prank includes the complete and utter demolishment of a marriage proposal in front of an entire restaurant of onlookers.
•Adobe
Created a fake Lightroom tutorial on how to turn any photo into an Ansel Adams photo using the Ansel Adams feature.
•Alamo Rental Cars
Is adding "woodies," wood-paneled station wagons from decades ago, back into its rental lineup so you can relive the National Lampoon's Vacation of your youth with your kids. Great video.
•Analog Watch Co.
Created the first lunar watch made of actual moon rock. It's actually pretty cool-looking in a Flintstones way.
•Angel City Brewery
Created Ramen Lager, infused with rich porkchop broth. Eww.
•Backblaze
Invented Catblaze, reliable storage for your cat-related files.
•BlackJet
The Toronto ad agency is offering marijuana as a new employee perk.
•BMW
Took this year's fool in the cute-baby direction with BMW XDrive Baby Boots, which dynamically react to any change in terrain. Made with FCB Inferno and The Mill.
•CanvasPop
Its Plus One matches your uploaded photos with your one true love.
•Car Keys UK
Reviewed an Infinite MPG car—it's from Fisher-Price.
•Cheesecake Factory
Created a Nacho Cheesecake. Barf.
•Cheetah Mobile
Invented a necklace called Vocal Tuner x Piano Tiles, which syncs with your phone to correct and train your voice. They also made a ridiculous seven-minute-plus video.
•Chegg
Is offering adorable puppy tutors. Less stress, more snuggles.
•Cramer
Created an Augmented Reality program called Speak EZ-AR that helps speakers feel more at ease in front of an audience, by dressing up the audience in their underwear, or as snacks, or as fat stacks of cash.
•DLink
Created a mouthy AI called The Ultra Wifi SmartAsk (DAT-A55).
•Duluth Trading
Solved plumber's crack with the new Longtail Bodysuit. A shirt and undies all-in-onesie.
•Ely, Minnesota
The prankiest town in America, which does April Fools' pranks every year, has invented the electric canoe paddle.
•English Blinds
Created the Roman Blind skirt. One pull adjusts your hemline, Roman style.
•Esurance
Is selling election insurance if you decide to leave the country due to the presidential election.
•Expedia.ca
Created a new airline for redheads only called Ginge-air.
•GForm
Created a line of extreme gear for babies.
•Glad
The wrap brand created the Press'n SEAL performance-enhancing wetsuit.
•Groupon
The company is letting you pay a stranger, including a mystery '80s sitcom star, to read to your cat.
•HHGreg
Made an 8-bit Nintendo game that lets you Super Build Your Kitchen.
•HonestBrew
Invented the beer bib. Which we actually need.
•Hooters
Bought a private island to build a Hooters Beach Resort. While the announcement is fake, you can enter to win a real island vacation.
•Houzz
Created HouzzSmartz—furniture, pillows and house accessories with a smart AI included. Shame they can't keep their language settings straight.
•HubSpot
Is letting you bring any kind of pet to work with its new Productive Employee Things program. Great video on this one.
•IFixIt
The Smother Bag will smother your hoverboards when they catch on fire.
•Jeep Germany
Made awesome looking adventure tires out of actual rock.
•Jetsetter
Made an adorable Itty Bitty Kitty Hotel.
•Kars4Kids
Is now giving you an actual kid if you give them a car.
•Leisure Travel Vans
Created the first Autonomous Driving RV.
•Lexus
Introduced a new performance feature called V-LCRO, which secures a tighter connection between car and driver. Made with Team One.
•Lyft
Lyft wants to help you fool your friends. Its new prank mode lets you create on-demand pranks. The first one was played on the NBA's Festus Ezeli, who was pranked into thinking he was cut from the Golden State Warriors.
•Malouf
The mattress maker created the Flower Bed, the world's first biodegradable mattress infused with seeds.
•Mattel
Announced a deal with Juneau, Alaska, to change the city's name to UNO, Alaska.
•Moshi
Created SpatiaFlight, a speaker that flies after you wherever you go.
•Nike
Released a chicken and waffles inspired shoe dubbed the SB Dunk High Waffle.
•Olly Gibbs
Released the first poster for the next Star Wars movie, Rogue One. It appears to star Jar Jar Binks.
•OnePlus
Invented GetSandStoned, a sandpaper-y gripping system for everything from soap to iPhones.
•OpenTable
Created lickable phone photos, so you can taste your meal before ordering.
•Plated
The deliverer of chef-designed diners has created PlateDate.
•Polar Seltzer
Released a limited edition flavor for April Fools' Day called Unicorn Kisses. The flavor is real in the sense that you can actually buy it, if you can manage to pry one of the 5,000 available bottles out of the hands of people who are filling their car trunks with it.
•Pornhub
Is now Corbhub.
•Progressive Insurance
Progressive wants to help you fool other people. With its April Fools' Insurance, you can create your own fake news story to fool your friends over at nameyourprank.com. Just in case you forgot to think of a good prank.
•Prysm
Created Spray and Display, an LCD display in a spray can. The cool video makes you wish it was real.
•Quilted Northern
Introduced Quilted Northern Rustic Weave, the first hand-crafted, hand-perforated toilet paper in small batch, Cedar Loom and virgin birch. Done with Droga5.
•Razer
The gaming company created a Razer toaster, which appears to be a real toaster, along with a five-minute, amusingly ranty video about it.
•Realtor.com
Is featuring pretend pet properties for cats, dogs, hamsters and even lizards.
•RedBox
Now hiring Kiosk Ambassadors. You know, employees who personally dish out movies like they work at Blockbuster or something.
•RugDoctor.
Has become PugDoctor. Rent a pug and live #puglife. Made with The Loomis Agency.
•SleepPhones
Created PetPhonez, headphones for your pets to sleep in.
•Sony Pictures
Excited about the new Ghostbuster's movie? Sony has created an actual Ghost Catching Proton Pack.
•StarKist
Is chucking Charlie the Tuna, its spokestuna since 1961, and replacing him with Brad the Sawfish.
•T-Mobile
#BingeOnUp is a headset that let's you binge-watch without having to hold your phone in your hand LIKE AN IDIOT.
•Tesla Motors
Announced the Model W, a watch that appears to be a tiny clock tower glued to your wrist. Winner of most phallic watch ever.
•ThinkGeek
Every April Fools' Day, ThinkGeek dreams up ridiculous products, creates amusing videos about them, and makes a significant portion of them a reality if you show enough interest. So let them know if you want:
-A vertical landing Diet Coke and Mentos robot
-A Star Trek white noise sleep machine
-A useless light switch
-A flavor of the day calendar
-A Rick and Morty Plumbus
-A VR Sensory Immersion Generator
-An Austin Powers shark with a frickin' laser pointer
-An Attack on Titan Colossal Titan Lawn Ornament
-Magic the Gathering travel edition
-BaRPG, a drinking RPG game
•Todaytix
Created a service called Dial-a-Drama, which lets you call and get the play-by-play of any show you're late arriving to. Calling the line lets you listen to a fake Dial-a-Drama call and get a promotional code.
•Tough Mudder
Created a retro-'80s infomercial for a dangerous set of Tough Mudder Toys.
•Trend Report
Immerses you in the world of Lolology with this interactive website.
•Trulia
Released new maps to help homeowners avoid hipsters.
•U by Kotex
Introducing the world's biggest menstrual cup.
•Unleashed by Petco
The chain, which fools it up every year and always offers a coupon, has created two new presidential feeding bowls: the Presidential Puppy Podium for a Puppy in Chief and the Presidential Kitty Podium for America's catstituents.
•Vift
The online video gift platform will deliver an "ugly truth" video gift on your behalf, which, if it doesn't go over well, you can claim is an April Fools' joke. No, really. Free for existing users, but anyone can pay for it.
•Vimeo
Made an old school 'zine, Zimeo, for angsty video lovers.
•Virgin America
Punked AirBnB's vagina logo with the breast new logo ever. (Or is it balls?)
•WaterAid
The charity is repurposing its ManPon awareness campaign as an April Fools' joke to raise awareness for the lack of sanitation women face around the world. This is actually great because what seemed in horrible taste a few months ago looks great on April Fools' Day.
•Waterpik
Created a shower belt to restrain you from the powerful force of its power pulse showerheads.
•Wayback Burgers
How about a Cheez Whiz milkshake?
•Wonder Workshop
Released WonderPaw, the first app that teaches dogs how to code.
•YETI
The cooler maker talked former NFL quarterback and ambassador Jordan Shipley into revealing the secret to his athletic success: elk's milk, or melk. The YETI melk gift pack is available starting April 2 online for a limited time for $401.16. Watch this ridiculously high quality video all about … elk whispering.
•ZipCar
Selfie driving matches you with the best car based on your selfie.
•ZipRecruiter
Identified an underserved population with nearly limitless potential and created Jobs for Babies. Watch to see a baby in a janitor costume riding a Roomba.
•Zoosk
The dating site will be matching people based on their love of burritos with Burrit-OH!
•Zumba
Tired of Zumba dancing alone? Buy a Zumba Roomba and clean while you shake your bum-bum. Win an actual custom built #ZumbaRoomba and help the brand explain to those who've never heard of the fitness dance craze that Zumba is not a robotic vacuum cleaner.
