Top 10 Best April Fools' Pranks In Tech

Come every April 1st, in true time-honoured tradition, there's always some carefully placed April Fools’ prank, hoax, or stunt lurking somewhere in every newspaper to reel us in. But now video has grown to be a true digital marketing platform, the tactics have become more and more elaborate.

Big global brands know the reach of viral video is immense, so it makes sense to gag their unsuspecting customers with on-brand ads that market the unmarketable - but in a scarily believable way. Fake products abound - let’s dive in with our Top 10 tech-based April fools’ videos from over the years.

Lexus Genetic Select | 2018

First up is a more than tongue in cheek effort from luxury performance car manufacturer, Lexus. In a bid to outdo the competition and troll practically every car ad ever made, this ad from 2018 says we can ‘experience craftsmanship at the genetic level’. Oh yes.

Adobe Food Finder | 2018

We all know Adobe is at the top of their game when it comes to industry-leading software. But their 2018 April Fool ‘how-to’-style video - showing off a new experimental feature letting you order the type of food you’re creating in Illustrator - just leaves us, well, hungry. We think this one should become a real feature.

Honda Horn Emojis | 2017

When a single horn sound just isn’t enough to express how you feel while in your car, luckily Honda has stepped up to help us. Turning their attention from other innovative features to the conventional car horn, the new Honda Horn Emojis give you a full “driver-to-driver communication system”.

Amazon Petlexa | 2017

Move over, Alexa - there’s a new virtual personal assistant in town. Er, sort of. In this 2017 spoof from the e-commerce kingpin, the Amazon Echo smart home hub gets a bit of a miraculous makeover. Forget Alexa - it’s time for Petlexa to get to grips with requests from your demanding pets.

T-Mobile #BingeOnUp | 2016

Like most expertly done spoofs, this 2016 effort from T-Mobile is borderline believable - for the first 10 seconds anyway. But this gadget’s revolutionary features like theatre mode, dual view, and real reality, will make you question why this thing isn’t already a thing. Beware: you will actually want this.

Playstation Flow | 2015

Massive kudos to PlayStation Europe for this one. Expertly done. Believable (almost). And another contender for the ‘Why isn't this thing already a thing?’ award. Take your gaming out of the living room and into the swimming pool and dive right into the action with PlayStation Flow.

Tesla Ticket Avoidance | 2015

Trouble finding a parking spot? Something we’re all familiar with, but while this 2015 April Fool video from electric car manufacturer, Tesla may be a few years old, it’s still relevant - who wouldn’t want to use a ‘ticket avoidance mode’ on their car? Making receipts for premium parking a thing of the past.

Google Nose | 2013

An oldie, but a goodie. Google manages to nail their April Fools’ campaigns every year and this one from 2013 is no exception, which is why it’s made our list. Google Nose (geddit?!) beta promises to ‘seamlessly connect scent to search’. So while people look at their phones, you can watch them smell them too.

YouTube on DVD | 2012

Certainly, the most bizarre and funniest video to make our Top 10. The YouTube DVD Collection gives you the full YouTube experience, but offline. Fill your house with DVDs as you complete a handwritten comment form and post it back to the video creator. Who needs an internet connection anyway?!

What a line up - some real (believable) corkers in there. It’s now so easy for companies to create this kind of video that, done well, it can increase their brand awareness tenfold, and gain them more customers along the way. Let us know what you think and if you reckon any other spoofs should be on our list.