Edit Content
Click on the Edit Content button to edit/add the content.

Favorite 2017 Aprils Fool’s Tech Pranks

April Fool’s Day is one of my favorite online holidays. Unlike other holidays like Cyber Monday, where it’s all about sales, this one is specifically geared toward utter goofiness.

Here is a round up of this year’s pranks.

Amazon’s Petlexa

If you thought Amazon’s Alexa Echo was cool, wait till you see what she can do for your pets. Gone are the days of wondering what Rex’s barks mean.

Lyft Mono: Real or Prank?

Lyft really outdid themselves by creating the Mono, a fake (or not) wearable glove with a thumb that will hail you a Lyft car when you stick out your thumb.

The problem with this prank is that Lyft went so far with it by having a pop-up event in San Francisco to show off the wearable and creating an app so that it ACTUALLY WORKS when you stick out your thumb at a street corner to hail a car.

The reason Lyft went so big is because they actually have an executive prankster in residence.

Zappo’s Anti-theft Box

If you’ve ever had a delivery box stolen from your porch, you know how upset that can make you. Zappo’s solution is an invisible box.

Google’s Ms. PacMaps

I am not sure this one should have been an April Fool’s prank at all. I enjoyed it immensely and hope it comes back as a regular Google Maps feature.

Then again, I did end up wasting a good thirty minutes of my life playing it. Not a good idea when you are a hustling entrepreneur where every minute counts.

Once I got the hang of it, I was mastering it like my 12-year old self once did the real Ms. Pac Man game. Booya!

The Ms. PacMaps was such a hit that there were stories everywhere with guides for the Best Place to Play The Game.

Google Ms PacMaps 2017
(Credit: Google Maps)

Google Gnome

Google couldn’t just release one prank, so they graced us with the outdoor equivalent to Google Home.

I would totally buy this, and I don’t think I’m the only one. Are you listening, Google?

T-Mobil’es Onesie

Wearables are seriously taking over, so why not a onesie, says T-Mobile.

Hulu Hu

Hulu’s answer to our rapidly declining attention spans is their Hu service. It condenses all your favorite shows into 8 second clips so that you can play catch-up without having to watch the actual shows. I say brilliant and please make it a real service. Again, I’ll pay.

Snapchat Instagram Filter

One of my favorite pranks was from Snap, the parent company of Snapchat.

Since Instagram pretty much ripped off their stories feature, Snapchat decided to make fun of them by creating an Instagram filter so that when you took a snap and looked for filters, it turned your image into an Instagram post.

This one actually worked on me, so I would say it was the winner. I took a snap and then got confused thinking I did it in the wrong app.

The funniest part of the prank was the comment from “my_mom and 2 others” basically implying that those were the only people using Instagram. It was a total burn and super funny.

ThinkGeek’s 4/1 Gags

ThinkGeek comes out with some interesting prank products every 4/1.

My favorite is the Swim Desk, because the standing desk is so 2016. I can’t say I wouldn’t consider purchasing this.

Image Credit: ThinkGeek

There’s also the Westworld Full-Body Snake Temporary Tattoo, for those folks who want to feel prison-worthy bad-assed without really committing to it. It’s based on the HBO show Westworld.

Image Credit: Think Geek

There were many other pranks like Elon Musk’s tweets about Chemtrails and Trulia’s pet listings, but they really didn’t delight me enough to warrant adding to my list.

I would love to know which was your favorite prank and which you would actually like to see be a real thing.

51 Responses

  1. Ha, these were all clever and funny but I liked Amazon’s Petlexa the best. I have and use Alexa and get some pretty weird responses sometimes so this prank is right on key.

  2. These are all great Aprils Fool’s Tech Pranks. The ThinkGeek’s 4/1 Gags is my favorite because it reminds me of me trying to do too many things at the same time.

  3. Oh wow lol I didn’t see any of these this year. I don’t watch television, so that might be a reason for some. I wish I would have seen the Pacman Google one though! I would have played that all day! haha

  4. These are all hilarious and it’s always nice seeing these companies prepare something entertaining for us. That snapchat filter is just so funny, what a way to throw some shade.

  5. These are too funny! I have a married couple that are friends of mine that really out do one another each year. I ma amazed at what they do.

  6. It is worth noting that many different cultures have had days of foolishness around the start of April, give or take a couple of weeks.

  7. Some of these are so funny. I loved the one by the airline with the new planes with the flapping wings LOL.

  8. This was a fun list of pranks!! I never knew companies went all out for April Fool’s Day. I would say T-Mobile and Lyft were my favorites since I watched both videos start to finish. Hulu was hilarious too though. But 8 seconds? I couldn’t do it. LOL! But I so love the commercial though.

  9. These are SO funny! The Hulu Hu made me laugh, it’s so true that we have so little time.. give me the whole show in 8 seconds! lol

  10. I actually love the T-Mobil Onesie is something I would love to see real. Who wouldn’t want to be in comfort. Thanks for sharing all the pranks.

  11. This is so fun, I love the swim desk and I want this fo real lol I love swimming while working haha

  12. Some of these are hilarious. I can’t believe some people really thought some of these were actually real. I love the anti-theft box from Zappos, haha!

  13. I hadn’t heard of any of these April Fools pranks. I do recall Google doing something similar to Google’s Ms. PacMaps in the past though 🙂

  14. Haha love the swim desk! Not sure the whole electrocution aspect is a big selling point though – I loved the pac man thing too – didn’t realise it was an April fools and thought it should’ve stuck around!

  15. Hahaha too many funny videos!!!!! April fools jokes are the best when they aren’t happening to me lol

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

image

Speaking On Best Practices in Marketing to Hispanics in 2024

After taking a year off from speaking, I kicked off 2024 with a bang as I presented at the Lead Generation World conference about Best Practices in Marketing to Hispanics…
image

Lessons from Rocks

My family immigrated to the US from Cuba in 1979 in the hopes of escaping communism and a dictatorship. I was four going on five and my older brother was…
image

The 2023 Latino Holiday Gift Guide is LIVE!

Running a multicultiural agency, I work with a lot of large brands, which I absolutely love and enjoy. That aside, I also have a really soft spot for Latino small…
image

Native vs. Heritage Spanish Speakers: Understanding the Differences for Effective Multicultural Marketing

In a recent article about Native versus Heritage Spanish Speakers, I discussed the importance of understanding cultural and language differences in order to create effective and relevant campaigns for clients.…
image

Call for Submissions: 2023 Latino Holiday Gift Guide

I can't believe it's already time to work on the 3rd Annual AmigosMax Latino Holiday Gift Guide! But here we are. This is one of my favorite projects. I get…

HACU and TMCF Partner on Capital One Launchpad: Legacy & Leadership Program

SAN ANTONIO,TX — March 18, 2024 — (NOTICIAS NEWSWIRE) — The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) and Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) have announced they will host the Capital One Launchpad: Legacy & Leadership Program. This experience will bring together students from HACU-member Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), and TMCF Historically Black Colleges and Universities …

Healthmap Solutions anuncia gran inauguración en Puerto Rico

— La expansión trae programa de manejo de salud renal y empleos a Puerto Rico —

Verizon brings free STEM learning to youth on HBCUs, HSIs and community college campuses

— Registration is open for the free Verizon Innovative Learning STEM Achievers summer program for middle school students —

View More