Best April Fools' Day Jokes of 2015

Don’t trust anything you see in your Twitter Feed or Facebook News Feed today.  At least not without verifying it.  That’s right, it’s April Fools' Day.

Of course, friends will be playing pranks on each other at work and posting fake Facebook announcements.  I think, though, that the real fun of April Fools' Day is to see how big brands respond.   And this year, we’ve got some doozies.

A drumroll, please for my top 5 Social Media April Fools' Day Jokes!

HINGE’S PLAYDATEDating app Hinge released its “newest” feature, PlayDating!  A dating app for 2-5 year olds looking for playdates.  The company flirts the line of a spoof product well in its pretend advertisement, and the little kids are just adorable!!

GOOGLE’S INBOX SMARTBOXGoogle had several jokes going on this year.  My personal fave is the fake ad the google gang made for a “revolutionary new mailbox”.  The Smartbox holds your snail mail, is activated by a wave of the hand, sparks those trying to put junk mail into your mailbox and has temperature controls AND video messaging! (WEIRD!!)
Check out the video, you might just find yourself wanting a SmartBox!

AMAZON 1999In a April Fools' Day throwback, Amazon.com has redone its entire site to look like it is 1999!  Check it out!  It is fascinating, actually to see how far we’ve come. There used to be SO much text and no pictures!! Goes to show that the internet quickly learned the power of visual imagery!

SELFIE SHOEA shoe company, Miz Mooz jumped in on the April Fools' Day action with a brilliant but fake new product, the selfie shoe.  Is it bad that I kind of want a pair?!  The selfie shoe has a slot for your phone and an internal button to take a selfie with a tap of your toe!  The video is hilarious and I now want to cut slits in my shoes to try this!

HONDA’S HR-V SELFIE EDITIONAlso in on the selfie spoof is Honda!  Honda’s “new” car has built-in selfie-ready features.  As its spoof ad puts it, “Every Honda comes with a rear view camera.  But the Honda HR-V Selfie Edition comes with the kind of camera I look for in a car.  It has TEN different selfie cameras!”  This would solve some problems for all those in-car selfies we see every day!

Do we really need #AmazonCart?

• Peanut Butter + Chocolate
• Wine + Cheese
• Coffee + Baileys

Usually when two of my favorite things come together, I love the output even more.

That's why I was a bit perplexed by my reaction to the news this morning that equates to "Amazon + Twitter".

Yes, there is a new feature on Twitter, after its latest partnership with Amazon.  This is called Amazon Cart, or in Twitter language, #AmazonCart. Basically, you can reply to any tweet with the hashtag and any item that the tweet was promoting will automatically be added to your Amazon cart.  

At first, I guess it sounds cool.  But watching the video teaser for the concept left me feeling confused.

Highlight line from the video: "No more switching apps, typing passwords or trying to remember items you saw on Twitter."

Okay, cutesy voiceover on the well edited pitch video.  Here's the thing.  None of those are real issues for me.  Is this partnership solving an actual problem?  I mean, I switch apps all day, every day.  All my passwords are saved in my phone already.  And, honestly, I never really see items for sale on Twitter.  Am I missing something?  Are people using Twitter to sell products a lot?  It seems like for most, Twitter is a way to share information.  Not the digital marketplace that this partnership would support.

A poll on Mashable is almost split down the middle as to whether people will use this or not, but the majority ends up leaning toward "No way".  

And I agree, at least for now.  Could this Amazon/Twitter partnership be foreshadowing the future of Twitter.  We know the company has been under pressure to find a profitable business model, so maybe monetization will come from this Amazon partnership?

Have you ever purchased something after seeing it on Twitter?  Will you use the new #AmazonCart feature?

Black Friday Starts Early on Social Media!

COUNTDOWN BEGINS.
One week.

Thanksgiving will be over, our tummies will be time for.... SHOPPING!

Black Friday is almost here but it seems like every year things start earlier and earlier. And one place you can surely keep up with what's going on is on Twitter. In fact, Amazon announced that it is going to be blasting out deals every 10 minutes starting this Sunday!
Of course, Amazon is completely online so you'll need to be glued to your computer to find the deals but some of these savings are steep! A Vizio 55-inch smart HDTV for $479.99 (usually it sells for $775.98), a Google Chromecast for $29.99 (usually $35) and I am sure many many more.

Now, this is not intended to be an ad for Amazon. It is interesting to me, though, that their "every 10 minutes" marketing plan syncs so well with the fast-paced style of social media. Black Friday is totally going social this year, you guys! In fact, many retailers have created special Twitter handles or Facebook pages just for their Black Friday deals! My favorite is Target who is giving away $25 gift cards through an app on Facebook and have a special Twitter handle -@ChristmasChamp - giving out advice on all things Black Friday at Target!