EMS Solutions may foster a well groomed corporate environment, but that doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy a good April Fools,’ too. While we don’t want to spoil what we may have in store for the workplace, we can share some of our favorite tech pranks from years past.
1. The Gmail App
Gmail’s release might be the biggest hoax-that-wasn’t-a-hoax April Fools’ Day trick played by tech-giant, Google. On April 1, 2004, Google announced the introduction of Gmail. At launch, the web email service offered 1GB of storage. At that time, that amount of storage was unheard of in the industry. For comparison, competing email services only offered a fraction of the storage touted by Gmail.
However, the April Fools’ joke was this. The strategic launch of Gmail on April Fools’ Day was genius promotional strategizing. Gmail was indeed no joke. The thought-to-be-a-joke announcement garnered tons of media. After the day had settled the “joke” was not rescinded which lead to even more publicity.
Truly, a well-played move by Google.
2. Petco’s Pet Selfie Stick
As electronic manufacturers, we can’t deny when we see true ingenuity with technology. This year, Petco kicked it up into high gear by introducing “bark-activated” selfie sticks for dogs and cats. Unfortunately, it was a hoax.
Priced at $49.95, the company made a lot of customers believe it was a real product – even going the extra mile of making a promotional video for it.
http://unleashedby.petco.com/selfiestick
The promotional ad contained a dog with the selfie stick attached to his collar. The photo was photoshopped to perfection, and it was too adorable to be unreal. Many hearts were broken when the pet selfie stick was confirmed to be an April Fools’ Day hoax.
3. Google Maps Pacman
Hah! This one is pure ingenious! Google struck again. In all honesty, be surprised that there are only two Google related pranks on this list. The company has an annual tradition of pulling pranks.
Google Maps made searching for your next destination a little more fun with their blast-from-the-past Pacman integration. With the announcement of Google Maps Pac-Man, streets were lined with dots in an approach to mimic the famous arcade game. The twist came as Pac-Man would go around the map as you planned your route.
What are your favorite workplace pranks?