April Fools' Day 2026: The Good, the Bad and the Bizarre of This Year's Corporate Jokes

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If you're online at all in 2026, you know it can feel like April Fools' Day every day. You've almost certainly come across videos and content, often created with AI, and had to stop and ask yourself if what you're looking at is true or made up.

Some are obvious. You mean, there aren't really beds made of kittens, cotton candy and rubies? And I wasn't really offered a job guarding a spooky funeral home where I might hear tapping coming from the morgue freezer at 3 a.m.? (Both of these are TikTok videos, and the AI is scarily good -- and also just scary.)

As brands roll out their April Fools' Day jokes for this year, I keep thinking that in an AI-heavy world, the jokes seem less surprising, the faked-up art less novel. Here are some highlights from this year's list of April 1 corporate and tech jokes.

Warhammer: The Musical

Hey, if Broadway can make a musical about Alexander Hamilton, or a bunch of cats, surely they can make one about the Warhammer universe? That's the joke behind this trailer for The Emperor Protects: A Warhammer 40,000 Musical, the April 1 joke from Games Workshop, creator of the popular game world. The two-and-a-half-minute trailer, with impressive costumes and music, really sells it.

T-Mobile cologne

Model holds a purple cell phone-shape that is presented as a cologne bottle

Want to smell like your cellphone? What does that even mean? Wireless tech giant T-Mobile's prank is Metro by T-Mobile CALLoGNE, combining call, as in phone call, with cologne. The company touts its April 1 joke as "the world's first luxury fragrance inspired by the unmistakable scent of a brand-new phone." Metro is T-Mobile's prepaid brand, formerly known as MetroPCS.

Timekettle British translation

They say the US and UK are two nations separated by a common language. You may already know some British phrases, including "boot" for what Americans call a car trunk, and "bonnet" for what we call the hood of a car. Timekettle makes AI-powered translation products, and its April 1 prank is a British-to-American language translation update for its translation devices. Cheerio, old chap.

Whisker cat hair clothing

If you own a cat, cat hair is already on everything in your closet. So Cataire (like couture, I guess), a line of designer clothing made out of real cat hair, doesn't seem that far off. Whisker, the company behind the Litter-Robot litter box, is taking this April 1 prank to the meowy max. They've actually used real cat hair from adoptable cats at a Michigan animal shelter to adorn three sweaters that will later be sold on eBay. Each eBay listing doubles as an adoption profile for a real shelter cat.

Yahoo's Scrōll Stoppr

Those who spend too much time on their phones might appreciate the idea behind Yahoo's prank, Scrōll Stoppr. It's described as "a delightfully absurd finger accessory that physically blocks your thumb from touching your phone screen." I hate to break it to Yahoo, but I discovered this myself years ago when I cut my thumb slicing onions for Thanksgiving and had to wrap it in a Band-Aid. Yahoo says you can actually buy this -- it will be available for $5 on Yahoo TikTok Shop on April 1 and will be delivered in a box that sounds off with the Yahoo signature yodel. If it sells out, just put on a Band-Aid for the same results. BYO yodel.

Omaha Steaks pocket steak

Man is shown pulling a pocket-sized Omaha steak package our of a denim shirt pocket.

Need a spot of protein on the go? Omaha Steaks is best known for sending giant crates of beef as gifts, but the company's April 1 product is "the world's first pocket-sized steak." It gets beefier: The company jokes that the steak is cooked by motion-activated technology. A rare deal indeed, if well done.

Baskin-Robbins ice cream soup

Baskin-Robbins has always had creative ice cream flavors, but for April 1, the company is hyping... ice cream soup. Not real, of course, but they're promoting the faux frozen dessert in hopes that people will be inspired to take advantage of a buy-one-get-one 50% off deal on pre-packed quarts April 1-2 for Baskin-Robbins Rewards Members. Slurp 'em if you got 'em.

Baby Bottle Pop, supplement style

Grown-ups don't get any of the fun kid candy, but instead are stuck taking vitamins and supplements. Baby Bottle Pop Candy, which is exactly what it sounds like, candy in a baby-bottle container, is pretending for April 1 that it now comes in adult flavors. Is protein a flavor? Is fiber? Salmon is, but candy salmon is too much, even for this Seattleite. Thankfully, it's just for April Fools' Day.

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