This Saturday marks the favorite holiday of pranksters everywhere: April Fool’s. It’s not just funny individuals who participate—many companies use the occasion to showcase their light-hearted side with bogus product launches or similar stunts.
A few years ago, Bomgar got in on the action with the launch of the Bomgar Sphere. This represented a giant step outside of the box for the company and ushered in a new era—and shape—of remote support. The Sphere enabled help desk reps to revolutionize everything:
- For example, that nagging sense that end-users are lying about rebooting their computer. The Sphere’s User Detection Functionality spotted these deceitful responses and automatically rebooted the computer in question.
- The evergreen security threat of users accessing unauthorized sites or clicking on malicious content was addressed with Remote Cyber Security Training—and a harmless shock treatment.
- The Remote Water Damage Technology allowed reps to automatically detect if an end-user’s smartphone was waterlogged, thereby effectively taking mobile support to the next level.
We had a great time planning the launch of the Bomgar Sphere, and our customers and partners enjoyed some laughs as well. After all, who doesn’t appreciate a phony product that promises to be the best thing ever?!
With that in mind, we looked at what some other companies have done to mark April Fool’s. Below is list of just a few of our favorites:
- Google Cardboard Plastic: This groundbreaking new product combined everything users love about virtual reality headsets with everything they love about reality. With 4 dimensions, 360° spatially accurate sound and 20/20 resolution, the device enabled people to see things the way they truly see them and experience the world their way. As Google put it, this actual reality technology was “as powerful as you are. But not any more powerful than that.”
- DigitalOcean’s CloudSound: With this new acoustic monitoring feature, DigitalOcean solved the age-old question: If a server whirrs in a datacenter and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound? With a simple click of the mouse, users could enjoy the calming, meditative sounds of their servers running in the background.
- ZipRecruiter Jobs for Babies: As an extension to its commitment to help everyone find a job quickly and easily, ZipRecruiter expanded its service to an ever-growing segment of the population with untapped marketplace potential: babies. Through its network of employers throughout the country, ZipRecruiter connected the budding infant workforce with meaningful careers making the job search “as easy as eating mashed bananas.”
- Xtalks Cat Webinar: Xtalks, a provider of life science, medical device and food industry webinars, turned its attention to a new and very important topic: the epigenetic effects of seafood consumption on the cat genome. The session, presented by Dr. Cornelius Whiskers and Sebastian Meowserton, examined the erratic behavior of hungry cats and whether the species’ fish-centric diet was partly to blame.
- U.S. Army Teleportation Technology: Army scientists developed innovative technology that successfully teleported a fully equipped squad from a Massachusetts base to a training area in Germany. The goal of the “Natick Incident,” as the Army called it, was to move forces to remote trouble spots around the world in the blink of an eye.
- Xavier University’s Emoji as a Second Language Major: With its finger on the pulse of the way people communicate today, Xavier University announced a program for students to master the language of Emoji. Course materials promised to enable students to master this system of communication and learn to make their point—without words.
Has your company staged a fake launch on April 1st? Or have you fallen victim to believing a new product was real? Be on your toes and keep your eyes peeled in the coming days!
