Tuesday, March 31, 2009

April Fool's Day

Tomorrow is April Fool's Day, one day of the year dedicated to celebrating the practical joke. While the actual origins of April Fool's Day are unknown, each spring both individuals and businesses enjoy trying to trick their friends and co-workers.
In a recent article, Fast Company magazine ranked the April Fool's pranks that were also successful marketing campaigns:

  • In 1996, Taco Bell's announcement they would be buying the Liberty Bell and renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell.
  • Burger King's introduction of the "Left-Handed Whopper," promising better eating for left-handed Americans as the condiments would only leak out of the right side.
  • the infamous YouTube prank which sent clicks on any featured video to the Rick Astley classic "Never Gonna Give you Up."

Google has become infamous for its annual April Fool's Day pranks - my favorite is one for 2007 which promised free printing with the new Gmail Paper feature.




Origins of April Fool's Day:

Top pranks ranked and rated: