What was once a harmless, mostly forgotten “holiday” has now gone completely out of control. This may sound a bit harsh, but I’m going to say it anyway.
Hey, Internet companies. Shut up.
Yes, indulging in a harmless April Fool’s Joke shows that your company has a whimsical side…but enough is enough. The internet’s involvement in April Fools’ Day has gone beyond the realm of entertaining and now borders on trite. Companies now feel like they must be involved in some prank in order toโI don’t knowโbe relatable? Show their fun side?
Instead, surfing the internet on the first of April is like having a ton of people yelling “Look at me! Look at me!” over and over again at the same time.
And I get it. Going “viral” is the new big goal. I think we all saw how fast the HOPA girl who quit her job went viral. And then sighed to ourselves when we found how it was a hoax and how easy it was for the creators to make it so popular. How many companies said to themselves, “I could do that.”
But corporate companies do not have as much freedom as sites such as theCHIVE. Their reputations would be sullied by cheap attempts at creating an overnight traffic spike. Except on April Fool’s Day. It’s become the one day that companies have an excuse to use cheap tricks to try to boost traffic.
It was fun at first, but it’s getting kind of old. Knock it off.
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