Today is the day I hate. Where everything is a lie. Things I read on social media reach a level of absurdity that somehow makes you want to go back to the normal weird level of Facebook. On a day like this, where people are scheming to make jokes, your darn sure that some really lame stuff comes out. Just ask D’Angelo Russel of the Lakers, who played a prank that went very badly.
YouTube Gets It
Luckily there are people who get it. Companies who help relax my eyes from the constant rolling. Saying that, man I got to say Google and YouTube get it so right. Today they launched Snoopa Vision. As a California native I thought it would be something totally different, but what actually was put together was a pretty entertaining campaign. I probably spent a good 10 to 15 minutes just looking through it all.
The introductory video was made extremely well and they actually put the effort into applying SnoopaVision to popular videos on YouTube. They have 10 videos that you can watch in 360 degrees with Snoop Dogg offering his commentary. Honestly, even without the 360 views, the commentary would have been cool enough.
Why This One is So Much Better Than the Rest
I think there is something about pranks. Knowing that someone is pulling your leg and causing you stress, discomfort, or anxiety at your expense, for their laugh has some give and take. You like to know that the person doing the prank or joke puts time and effort. If you are a fan of The Office, Jim Halpert offers probably the best example of tasteful pranks. While Michael Scott has terrible ones.
The point is, YouTube did an amazing job because they actually put time into creating a high-quality prank. It’s so thorough that they actually have content. The campaign features a celebrity, amazing technology, and entertainment. That’s what it should be all about!
It’s a Track Record
This isn’t the first time Google has killed it with April Fool’s Jokes. One of my other favorites was launched in 2012, with Google Chrome’s Multitask mode.
I will admit. I totally fell for this one when it came out. I’ll sheepishly concede that I did go looking for a second mouse. Only after showing my dad the video and accidentally scrolling down to the comment section did I finally start putting two and two together.
It’s okay though! It marked the first year I started noticing the Google April Fool’s Pranks!
There’s So Many More
Google is such a large company that they can invest in so many awesome April Fool’s Jokes. Here is a list by VentureBeat that has all of their pranks this year.