April Fools’ Day 2026: The Good, The Bad and the Weird of This Year’s Corporate Jokes
If you’re online at all in 2026, you know it can feel like April Fools’ Day every day. You’ve probably come across videos and content, often created with AI, and had to stop and wonder if what you’re watching is real or fake.
Some are obvious. You mean there really aren’t beds made of cats, cotton candy and rubies? And I wasn’t given a job guarding a ridiculous funeral where I couldn’t hear the sound of the fridge in the cold at 3 in the morning? (These are both TikTok videos, and the AI is terrifyingly good — and terrifying.)
As brands make their April Fools’ Day jokes this year, I keep thinking that in an AI-heavy world, jokes seem less surprising, a little fake art novel. Here are some of the highlights from this year’s list of April 1 jokes for companies and technology.
Warhammer: The Music
Hey, if Broadway can make a musical about Alexander Hamilton, or a bunch of cats, can it make one about the Warhammer universe? That’s the joke behind this trailer for The Emperor Protects: A Warhammer 40,000 Musical, an April 1 teaser from Games Workshop, creator of the world’s most famous game. The two-and-a-half-minute trailer, with impressive costumes and music, really sells it.
Mobile cologne
Can you smell me now? Wait, wrong cell phone company.
Want to sniff your cell phone? What does that mean? Wireless technology giant T-Mobile is Metro by T-Mobile CALLoGNE, which combines a phone, as in a phone, with cologne. The company touts its April 1 joke as “the world’s first fragrance inspired by the amazing smell of a brand new phone.” Metro is a prepaid brand of T-Mobile, formerly known as MetroPCS.
Timekettle is the British version
They say that the US and the UK are two countries separated by one language. You may already be familiar with some British phrases, including the “boot” of what Americans call the trunk of a car, and the “bonnet” of what we call the hood of a car. Timekettle makes translation products that use the power of AI, and its April 1 gig is an English-to-American language translation update for its translation devices. Cheerio, ch.
Timekettle offers translation services, but the British English to American English translation is an April 1 joke special.
Whisker cat hairstyles
From couture to cat hair, Whisker’s April Fool’s prank features cat hair outfits.
If you’re a cat owner, cat hair is already on everything in your closet. So Cataire (like couture, I guess), a line of designer clothes made from real cat hair, doesn’t seem that far off. Whisker, the company behind the Litter-Robot litter box, is making this April Fool’s Day a little weird. They actually used real cat hair from adoptable cats at an animal shelter in Michigan to decorate three sweaters that will later be sold on eBay. Each eBay listing doubles as an adoption profile for a real shelter cat.
Yahoo’s Scroll Stoppr
Doomscrolling is also not possible with Yahoo’s sixth guard, ScrōllStoppr.
Those who spend a lot of time on their phones may enjoy Yahoo’s brainchild, Scrōll Stoppr. It’s described as “a delightfully silly finger accessory that keeps your thumb from touching your phone’s screen.” I hate to break it to Yahoo, but I found this out myself years ago when I cut my thumb slicing an onion at Thanksgiving and had to wrap it in a Band-Aid. Yahoo says you can actually buy this — it will be available for $5 in the Yahoo TikTok store on April 1 and will come in a box that sounds like Yahoo’s signature yodel. If it sells, just put a Band-Aid on it to get the same results. BYO yodel.
Omaha Steaks in a steak package
Put a spot on your shirt for this steak in the pocket.
Need a protein substitute on the go? Omaha Steaks is best known for sending large crates of beef as gifts, but the company’s April 1 product is “the world’s first pocket-sized steak.” It gets even better: The company jokes that the steak is cooked with motion-activated technology. A truly extraordinary deal, if done right.
Baskin-Robbins ice cream soup
Wipe out the Baskin-Robbins April Fools’ Day joke, ice cream soup.
Baskin-Robbins has always had creative ice cream flavors, but on April 1, the company is hyping… ice cream soup. It’s not real, of course, but they’re promoting the fake frozen dessert in the hopes that people will be motivated to take advantage of the 50% buy-one-for-one discount on prepackaged quarts April 1-2 for Baskin-Robbins Rewards Members. Slurp ’em if you have them.
Baby Bottle Pop, supplement style
Wow, say the makers of Baby Bottle Pop.
Adults don’t find children’s candy fun, but instead stick to taking vitamins and supplements. Baby Bottle Pop Candy, which is exactly what it sounds like, candy in a baby bottle container, pretends it’s April 1st that it’s coming with grown-up flavors. Are proteins flavored? Is it fiber? Salmon is, but candy salmon is too much, even for this Seattleite. Thankfully, it’s only for April Fools’ Day.
