“Don’t believe everything you read or watch on the Internet” is a good rule of thumb in today’s digital age.
The saying rings true every year on April 1, as the Internet embraces April Fool’s Day and companies ramp up their efforts to pull a fast one on people as they try to generate coveted Internet buzz to sell or promote a product.
This year, it appears companies have been spending a lot of time, money and effort on pranks or jokes that would lead gullible people – or those who forgot to look at the calendar, at least – to believe an airline is allowing bears and other animals on its planes, YouTube is shutting down for a decade and Twitter is charging people to use vowels in their tweets, or twts.
Here are some of this year's most popular April Fool’s Day gags:
West Jet's "furry family" program
Following up on last year’s popular “child-free cabins” hoax, WestJet announced that it is allowing all types of animals in its cabins as part of a “furry family” program.
The program extends to everything from bears and alligators to pigeons and raccoons, as long as they fit safely in the cabin, according to a hoax video.
“We recognize that a growing number of families want to travel with their ‘extended’ family and we are proud to be the first airline to offer this type of service,” said Richard Bartrem, the Calgary-based airline’s vice-president of communications and community relations, in the video.
The concept doesn’t look like much fun. The video shows a woman shooing away a goat, a juvenile alligator in the overhead storage bin, a bear in the washroom, and a woman sitting between a quacking duck and a squealing monkey.
YouTube going offline for a decade
In a video released Sunday, YouTube tried to fool people into thinking it would be going offline for a decade.
The purpose? To review millions upon millions of video clips uploaded since the website’s 2005 launch and announce a winner when YouTube returns in 2023.
“We always said that this shouldn’t be a popularity contest,” YouTube CEO Salar Kamangar said in the video. “‘Gangnam Style’ has the same chance of winning as a video with 40 views of a man feeding bread to a duck.”
Google Nose
What does a new car smell like? What about the stench of a ghost or the interior of an Egyptian tomb?
Google knows. Or, Google Nose.
In a gag that got a lot of attention, Google unveiled a smell-o-vision-like feature that allows people to search and smell scents through their computer or smartphone.
The search engine’s “mobile aroma indexing program” has a “scentibite database” with more than 15 million smells from around the world.
In a video that shows people leaning in to get a whiff of their laptops, desktops or smartphones, Google product manager Jon Wooly says: “In the fast paced world that we live in, we don’t always have time to stop and smell the roses. Now, with Google Nose Beta, the roses are just a click away.”
According to Google, smelling is believing.
Twitter to charge for vowels
Twitter wished everyone a “Hppy prl fl’s dy” by telling its users that they will have to pay $5 a month to use vowels in their tweets.
On its blog, Twitter says it is shifting to a two-tiered service – basic with consonants only, or a premium service with vowels.
“We’re doing this because we believe that by eliminating vowels, we’ll encourage a more efficient and “dense” form of communication,” the company says. “We also see an opportunity to diversify our revenue stream.”
Google Maps treasure hunt
For people who like to explore, Google set up a treasure hunt on its Google Maps service.
When people click on “Start treasure hunting,” they are shown a pirate’s map they can use to find hidden “treasure.”
In this mode, the traditional Google Street View is replaced with black-and-white street images seen through a periscope.
Gmail Blue
“It’s Gmail, only bluer.”
Inspired by the ocean, the sky and blue whales, Google’s latest innovation was six years in the making, according to a tongue-in-cheek video featuring, who else, the Blue Man Group.
In Gmail Blue, everything is blue: the text, the background and the links.
“I think the first thought that’s gonna come to the end user’s mind is I can’t believe I waited this long for this,” said lead engineer Carl Branch.
Airline reveals see-through floor
Remember that glass-bottom boat cruise you took in the Caribbean? British airline Virgin would like everyone to believe that it is taking see-through floors to new heights.
On its website, Virgin shared mock photos of the world’s first-ever glass-bottom plane.
“I can’t wait to experience the first flight for myself with my family and other natural born explorers,” founder Richard Branson said on his blog.
Branson described the innovation as a “breakthrough” – a word passengers wouldn’t want to hear as they stare through the floor at objects 9,000 metres below.
@ChrisKitching is on Twitter. For instant breaking news, follow @CP24 on Twitter.
