The best (and worst) of April Fools’ Day 2013

April Fools’ Day. The one day in the year that big name companies possibly spend too much of their advertising budget to proffer good humour upon their customers. It used to be that you just slapped a paper fish on everybody’s back and called it a day. But with the stakes being raised higher every year for who can pull off the most unbelievable but still believable jokes, who topped our best and worst April Fools’ Day 2013 lists?

THE VERY BEST

Special Mention: Game of Thrones

Mere hours after the US debut of Season 3 of Game of Thrones, it was announced on HBO Watch that Peter Dinklage would be replaced with Warwick Davis (best known from Life’s Too Short, Harry Potter, Willow) for the role of Tyrion Lannister by 2014. The writers and producers allegedly stuck true to this announcing that they wanted “to take Tyrion in a more comedic, farcical direction and everyone including Peter agreed that he just wasn’t the man for the job.” It was entirely plausible as HBO have not always stayed true to the books for their TV series. This was one of the cruellest and best April Fools’ Day pranks that I have ever seen.

5. ThinkGeek

Every year, ThinkGeek release a new line of products suspiciously on April 1^st. These have included 2011’s Edible Gummy iPhone Cases (doesn’t the garlic cream flavour sound delicious?) and 2012’s Game of Thrones Fire and Blood Perfume. This year was no exception with the Eye of Sauron Desk Lamp, Aliens Chestburster-In-A-Can, Bane Mask Walkie Talkies, Creeper Body Pillows, Play-Doh 3D Printer and Death Star Trench Toss. What is especially beautiful about ThinkGeek is that if they get enough interest in their prank products, they will become real products available to purchase. My money is on the Bane Mask Walkie Talkies.

4. Google Analytics

Checking out your stats on Google Analytics, you may have seen some unusual visitors to your site. FROM SPACE. No, not the aliens (just yet). Hot damn, the crew on-board the International Space Station are reading your blog from their Control Room!

Wait a minute, what’s the date again?

3. Virgin Atlantic

Always at the forefront of aviation technology, Virgin Atlantic announced that they would be launching the world’s first glass-bottomed planes, allowing passengers to see the world from 30,000 feet. Well, this sounds terrifying. Backed up with a press release in The Mirror and a blog post from Sir Richard Branson himself, this would be the transport for the thrill-seekers. I hope Virgin would supply extra sick bags for this one.

2. Twitter

Frustrated that your finest ideas can’t be tweeted within the 140-character limits? Do you think vowels are the vitriol of the verbose? Of course, you do and, fortunately, so do Twitter! They broadcasted on their official blog about Twttr of a new premium service where they would now be charging $5 (£3.30) a month, in which tweeters would subscribe to for the usage of vowels in tweets. Nd thn vryn cld twt mr cncsly! Maybe not.

1. YouTube

If like me, you fruitlessly clicked around on YouTube for 10 seconds, searching for their April Fools’ Day prank, you can be forgiven. Last year, they publicised their new service of The YouTube Collection on their front page, promising a fleet of 176 trucks to deliver every single YouTube video on disc to your door.

They were a little sneakier this year. With the announcement of their competition for the best YouTube video now coming to a close after its 8 year run, YouTube would be shutting down to allow them to review the staggering 252,288,000 hours of video that have been uploaded since its inception.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HGeMGqVKD6A

Stay tuned for Day 2.

THE VERY WORST

Special Mention: TeenNick

TeenNick had a massive surprise for fans of 90s cartoon, Rocko’s Modern Life. They would be airing a never-before-seen episode of the show at midnight on April 1^st. Those that did tune in were treated to 20 minutes of a static cartoon image of a tub of mayo with an accompanying jaunty tune. As a major fan (and mourner) of 90s cartoons, such as Dexter’s Laboratory, The PowerPuff Girls, Cow and Chicken and Johnny Bravo, I thought I had missed out on something epic. Don’t toy with my emotions, Nickelodeon!

5. Nouse

A shock story from Nouse as the news that a duck virus (Duck Analovirus A) had spread throughout the campus population of ducks hit their site on the morning of 1^st of April. The article has since been removed from their site.

4. Justin Bieber

Urgh, this boy. Bieber tweeted this to his 36-million-strong army of Beliebers:

Imagine the tears of pre-teen anguish as many fans eagerly waited for that ringing sound to give way to a Canadian-accented “Hello?” from their singing idol. Then imagine their confusion as they actually got through to the tip line of TMZ. As the number is toll-free, TMZ will have to pay for all the calls dialled. I would not like to see that phone bill.

3. We Think Cats Are Gonna Be A Big Deal On The Internet Soon (US Military Edition)

As the song goes, the Internet is made of cats. And on this, the first day of April, it would seem that the army will be too. With a special military regime announced on their website, featuring a feline of the grumpy persuasion, they attested that the soldiers are “doing their part to support the program by capturing stray cats in their neighbourhoods”. When they’re not licking their butts or sleeping 19 hours of the day, I’m sure those cats will definitely be sniffing for bombs. Or hiding in a corner from the sounds of gunfire.

2. We Think Cats Are Gonna Be A Big Deal On The Internet Soon (Vimeo Edition)

I’m willing to bet a small amount of money that with YouTube shutting down, the first question that would come to everyone’s minds would be “But where will all the cat videos go?” Vimeow was announced via blog post from the Pawsident (seriously?) As far as I’m aware, Vimeow and YouTube were not in collusion on this one.

1. DeviantART

DeviantART introduced DeviantHEART, an online dating service for artists that would match seeking DeviantART users to the potential love of their lives. Based on Advanced Matching Technology, users could message their match to meet and begin their love-filled journey. Once the form was filled out (that seemed basic at best), the next screen announced that your match was completely random and that you had been a witness to their fun April Fools’ prank. After the Twilight/Lady Gaga icon takeover of 2010 and the grand trolling of 2011, DeviantART pranks seem shabbier of late.