April Fools jokes and hoaxes of 2014
There was certainly no shortage of April Fools jokes on the Internet in 2014. We take a quick look at some of the more popular and funny jokes.
From Google to Rosetta Stone, to the Kings London Choir to Tumblr. There was no shortage of Internet pranks in 2014.
Learn a new language…
Rosetta Stone piqued many a user’s curiosity in 2014 after they announced their latest language-learning package was going to teach users how to speak… Klingon.
On first glance it appears it may have been a Star Trek fans ultimate dream. Even the sales page on the Rosetta website featured the brand new product box (below) and even Next Generation actor Michael Dorn (Worf) was on hand to provide some convincing sales talk.
Alas it wasn’t to be, but it did have many Trekkies believing for a while.
RIP One Direction
The viral Twitter brigade can always be trusted to help spread total nonsense pretty much any day of the year, not just April 1st.
But rumours that One Direction band member Zayn Malik had passed away were always destined to become mega viral given the prolific use of Twitter by the self-dubbed One-Directioners. Only hours after the rumour surfaced, the term #RIPZaynMalik was already one of the most trending topics.
We’re told that if there is one cardinal rule on Twitter, it’s not to mess with One Direction fans, as they are – from what we’ve been told – utterly crazy. The source of the hoax understandably chose to remain anonymous.
But it was just a hoax. Whether it was an April Fools hoax… well, we don’t know.
Comic Sans CERN
Whilst all that was going on, CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, announced to their followers that their communications and website will now be published using the font Comic Sans. For those unfamiliar with the font, it’s the only one that every amateur poster “designer” uses. Ever.
Those viral videos…
In another “shock” announcement, the brains behind YouTube confessed that for all these years they haven’t been merely just the platform on which viral videos spread, but in fact take a much more hands on approach to all those cats-playing-keyboards and funny-trampoline-fail videos you see adorn your computer screen everyday.
In fact the popular video platform, according to this below video, are actually the brains behind every single viral video that has spread across the Internet, and they are also the people who decide what viral trends everyone will be talking about in years to come.
So if you thought that that video of a man running his moped into his shed was George from Ipswich, you’d be wrong. It was YouTube. It’s all YouTube. They’re the online video Illuminati. Check the video below – we particularly like “clocking”.
Pokémon Master…
Google are known as the best online pranksters on the Internet with a rich heritage of brilliant April Fools pranks dating back for more than a decade. And it was them that lead the charge with their 2014 prank that claimed they were hiring for new positions. The job role, however, wasn’t anything like software developer or graphic designer.
Oh no, applicants would be battling it out to be a certified Google Pokémon master. Those who wanted the job had to clamber around Google Maps for hours and hours trying to locate images of Pokémon characters that were hidden there by Google employees. Finding them all would land you a job.
“We value employees who are risk-taking and detail-oriented, have deep technical knowledge, and can navigate through tall grass to capture wild creatures,” read a post from the Google blog.
Sadly though, if you’ve ever dreamt of working for Google, it turns out you may have to take a different more conventional route after all.
Well, what a waste of time that was.
Tumblr Pro…
You may be an active user on Tumblr… but the real question is – are you a Tumblr Pro user?
Users of the microblog social networking site were presented with an “upgrade” button to Tumblr Pro on their dashboards after logging in. But hang on, what exactly is Tumblr Pro?
After clicking the button, they were then presented with an explanation video that – on hindsight – didn’t really explain anything, but still invited the user to confirm their upgrade.
And what happened after they confirmed they had upgraded to the awesome and revolutionary Tumblr Pro?
Tumblr gave their profile picture a top hat.
No trying to hide the fact that you fell for that one!
The Kings College Choir
But the funniest video this year has to go to the Church! Well, the Kings Choir College, for this hilarious video of just how they are planning on allowing their elder members to hit those famous high notes. (surgery wasn’t a popular option, apparently)
Enjoy.
Did you play an April Fools pranks on the Internet? Let us know below.