What a wonderful time of year it is. The snow is melting, the daylight is becoming plentiful, and the brands of the world are taking the you-know-what out of us for April Fools’ Day – again. Here are our favourite brand pranks of April 1st, 2014.
1. Google Maps: Pokémon Challenge
Google obviously swept this year with a few notable brand pranks. But the Pokémon Challenge won for its high production value and overall try-hardness.
If you conducted a search using Google Maps, you’d see various Pokémon scattered across the landscape. This was by far the most satisfying of the brand pranks: It was built out as an actual game, anticipating the public’s desire to catch ‘em all.
2. The HTC Gluuv (BETA)
HTC made us lol with the unveiling of the game-changing HTC Gluuv (BETA) – a Nintendo Powerglove thingy designed to “seamlessly integrate” with your HTC One.
This came with an involved product webpage that walked us through all the revoluutionary features of the Gluuv, the best of which being the BoomBass Handle which (if you looked super, super close) bore a striking resemblance to a CD boombox from 1996.
3. Samsung UK Pigeon Powered Fli-Fy
If you are a person of drier taste, it may behoove you to watch this video prank by Samsung UK. Below, you will see an inspiring and sustainable vision of the future of information access. Caution: This one is likely to leave even the most sophisticated of humorists parched. For fans of Yes Minister and The Thick of It.
4. Domino’s Pizza and the Edible Box
Domino’s Pizza made the cut for its clever use of brand positioning, boasting the world’s first “snackaging” innovation. It played off of the notion that Domino’s customers find the crust the most delectable part of their pizza-eating experience. Of course, this brand prank came with a hashtag – #DominosEdibox. What a slice this one was.
5. CERN Switches to Comic Sans
‘Nuff said.
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