April 1st was a short while ago, and many different companies celebrated in their own ways in the forms of gag emails, fake products, and hilarious advertisements. Let’s take a look at some of the best contenders.
Amazon released an advertisement for a new feature of the Echo, called Petlexa. This adorable feature claims to understand pets: it can track the steps of a hamster on a wheel, order sushi for a cat, and launch an automatic ball thrower for a dog. Your furry friend will have a great time with this device, but hopefully they won’t order too many toys with your credit card info.
In a hilarious parody, Snapchat unveiled an Instagram-esque filter which included likes from “my_mom” and few others. Stories is the picture series pioneered by Snapchat, and over the past few years Facebook has cloned this feature and made it available for Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp, all owned by Zuckerberg’s company. This has evolved into a viral meme, and with this new filter it seems like Snapchat is ready to clap back.
Google Maps also released a fun little feature on April 1st. Any travelers who opened the app were given the option to play Ms. Pac-man, a fully functioning game that fits with Google’s tradition of cutesy amusements. This was also available on a desktop computer, and players were encouraged to share their high scores on Twitter with the hashtag #MsPacMaps.
Netflix’s contribution to April Fool’s was their rather peaceful stream of Will Arnett narrating ordinary objects, called Netflix Live. The somewhat-bizarre stream-of-consciousness narrative included comments on burritos, office supplies, and parallel parking. The soothing video was 48 minutes long and highly enjoyable for those who got the chance to see it.
Other great pranks included Lyft’s wearable thumb, Reddit’s r/place, and the premiere of Rick and Morty S1E3. Did your company do anything for April Fool’s Day? Did you pull any great pranks you think the world needs to know about? Let us know!