The best April Fools' Day pranks so far

Its April Fools Day, a day pranksters around the world try their best to fool those of us who didnt pay attention to the date on their calendars. And, as has been the case in recent years, many tech and media companies took part in the trickery Wednesday — with some jokes more inspired than others.

Search engine Google kicked off the annual day of high jinks by reversing its page.

(com.google)
(com.google)

Google Maps allowed visitors in major cities to play Pac-Man with its maps.

Online retailer Amazon.com replaced its homepage with a 1999 version.

Amazon's homepage, April 1, 2015. (Amazon.com)
Amazon's homepage, April 1, 2015. (Amazon.com)

Microsoft also went retro, announcing MS-DOS technology for its smartphones.

(Microsoft)
(Microsoft)

Uber, the app-based transportation network, launched a UberHorse, an on-demand equine service in New York City.

(Uberhorse.nyc)
(Uberhorse.nyc)

For one month only, every New Yorker with the Uber app can traverse our citys streets on the back of their own trusty steed, a note on Uberhorse.nyc reads. Have we cleared this with the city? Absolutely not. Do we care? No. Were Uber, we have more money than we know what to do with.

Groupon, meanwhile, unveiled the Uber-like Grøüber, a revolutionary car service that connects you with a cat driver. The faux companys tagline: The future is meow.

PlayStation rolled out PlayStation Flow, wearable underwater technology to take gaming out of the living room and into the swimming pool.

Miz Mooz, a New York City womens shoe designer, advertised the latest addition to its shoe line: Selfie Shoes.

Speaking of selfies, Petco unleashed selfie sticks for dogs.

(Petco.com)
(Petco.com)

Singer Sam Smith informed his 2.45 million Twitter followers he was heterosexual.


Pizza Hut U.K. unveiled scratch-and-sniff menus.

At the University of Cambridge, resident prankster Paul Coxon put a note outside a door informing students and faculty that the building access system had been upgraded to include voice recognition.

 

CERN, the European Council for Nuclear Research in Switzerland, announced that researchers in Geneva had confirmed the existence of "the Force."

(CERN)
(CERN)

“The Force is what gives a particle physicist his powers,” theorist Ben Kenobi said in its fake press release. “It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us; and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.”

Innocent Drinks, a London-based beverage manufacturer, went with a simpler April Fools prank.