From dog highchairs to controlling email with your mind, here's a roundup of the best April Fool's hoaxes of the year.
Deal sharing website Groupon announced Friday morning it had acquired the trademark for the holiday. The site announced it had purchased "everyone's favourite day of daffiness," which would now be known as Groupon Presents April Fools' Day™.
The company said the acquisition would give "consumers more choices and better options" when it comes to pranks, and promised swift legal action against any non-licensed prank.
Internet giant rolled out one of the best pranks of the year with its "Gmail Motion" – the ability to control Gmail with your body.
Labelling the service as "a new way to communicate," it promised a service similar to Xbox Kinect by harnessing "patented spatial tracking technology" which detects users' movements and translates them into meaningful characters.
Sadly, if you try to click on the new product you'll be greeted by a message: Gmail Motion doesn't actually exist. At least not yet…
Pledging "full throated support" for the UK monarchy, The Guardian newspaper launched a fake 24-hour royal wedding live blog, offering minute by minute coverage – weeks before the actual event.
The paper promised to recall foreign correspondents from "some less newsworthy parts of the globe," such as north Africa and southeast Asia, to focus on palace matters instead.
Swedish furniture maker Ikea released its newest product via YouTube video: The Hundstol, or dog highchair.
"The dog is a trial run for kids, so we started looking at pet furniture needs," the designer says.
The product retails for $59 (dog not included) and features built in feeding bowls, comfort pad grips for stability, and, of course, a hole for the dog's tail.
Already at the forefront of space travel, Virgin mogul Sir Richard Branson revealed on the company website that he had purchased the planet Pluto for an undisclosed sum.
"Virgin has expanded into many territories over the years, but we have never had our own planet before. This could pave the way for a new age in space tourism," the eccentric billionaire is quoted saying.
Virgin said the launch would take five years and, if successful, would be the first-ever part human-created planet.
A fake television pilot trailer hypes up Harry Potter fans with a spinoff show that puts J.K. Rowling's characters in crime fighting scenarios.
"The Aurors" is billed online as a gritty FX series about an elite unit of wizards fighting the most dangerous magical criminals across America.
