2019 April Fools' Day

Background

On April 1st, 2019, various websites and online services released gag videos, products and features in honor of April Fools’ Day.

Developments

Google

Snake in Google Maps App

The Google Maps application launched a version of the game Snake, which allowed users to pick up passengers while controlling a pixel art mode of transportation in a variety of locations around the world.

Google Tulip

Meanwhile, the Google Nederland YouTube channel uploaded a video titled "Introducing Google Tulip," which presented a new feature allowing people to use a Google Home device to talk to tulip plants (shown below).

Reddit Sequence

On April 1st, the Internet Sequencing Machine launched on the /r/sequence subreddit. The project allows users to upload GIFS to the /r/sequencemeta subreddit, where the most upvoted images would be added to a compilation that would be edited into a crowdsourced short film.^[5]

Tinder Height Verification

On March 29th, Tinder published an announcement on their official blog^[1] for a new "height verification" feature, which claimed to use image-scanning software to accurately verify user's height.

DJ Khaled TikTok Chief Motivational Officer

That day, DJ Khaled tweeted an announcement that he had become the "chief motivational officer" of TikTok (shown below).

Video Game Dunkey Xbox Direct

YouTuber VideoGameDunkey uploaded a prank video titled "Xbox Direct 4.1.19," featuring footage of various fake games set to be released over the course of the year (shown below).

Duolingo Push

The app Duolingo released a satirical ad titled "Introducing Duolingo Push," in which the Duolingo Owl mascot shows up to in person to motivate users to use the app (shown below).

McDonald's Pickle Burger

The fast-food company McDonald's published a video to Instagram unveiling a new "pickle burger"

#EyeAmTheFool

On Twitter and Instagram, various comic artists began posting illustrations in which the characters are shown having realistic eyes, accompanied by the hashtag #EyeAmTheFool^[2][3] (shown below). On April 1st, Redditor footwear4 submitted a post to /r/OutOfTheLoop asking for an explanation of the trend, to which Redditor nynexman4464 replied that the was "speculation" that it was an April Fools' Day gag, referencing a previous comic trend using the punchline "Maybe… I am the fool."

James Comey Tweet

James Comey posted a cryptic tweet^[4] with the message "I'm in. We need someone in the middle. #2020" (shown below). In response, many speculated that Comey was announcing his bid for the United States presidency as part of an April Fools' Day prank.

Following the post, people mocked Comey's attempt at humor, using his joke as the caption to other images involving the word "middle," whether that be infamous middle children, other cultural properties involving the word or images in which the subject is in the middle of the frame (examples below).

That day, Twitter published a Moments page about the tweet and the meme it inspired.^[10]

Tom Brady Retirement Tweet

That day, as part of an April Fools' Day prank,American professional football player Tom Brady tweeted his first tweet:^[6] "I'm retiring. In my spare time, I'll be tweeting #LFG." The tweet received more than 37,000 retweets and 123,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below).

Some were dubious of the tweet, including the official NFL Twitter account (shown below, left). Fans, however, were split about whether they appreciated the joke or not (example below, center and right).

Brady followed the tweet by writing "was this a bad joke?" The post received more than 7,300 retweets and 56,000 likes in 24 hours (Shown below).^[7]

That day, Twitter^[8] published a Moments page about the response to the tweet.

US Open Tennis

On April 1st, the US Open's official Twitter^[12] account posted a picture of a dog on a tennis court chasing a ball. They wrote, "BREAKING: The US Open to add puppies to the ballperson team at the 2019 tournament for the first time. All breeds welcome." The tweet received more than 8,500 retweets and 35,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below).

Starbucks Pupbucks

Starbucks coffee chain posted a video on Twitter for "Pupbucks," a Starbucks store for dogs. The post received more than 2,100 retweets and 10,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below).

We're so excited to announce our newest concept stores: Starbucks for your best fur-iend. #Pupbucks pic.twitter.com/xgAEn0Dxss

— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) April 1, 2019

Search Interest

External References