April Fools' Day Survey: Google Pranks Considered Favorites

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Posted Apr 01, 2015

Today is April Fools’ Day, a day that people celebrate by playing pranks and jokes on their friends, co-workers and family members. Pranks can range from simple jokes to misplaced or hidden items, or even to scary pranks. How many people plan to participate in April Fools’ Day this year compared with previous years? And what are their favorite ways to celebrate?

april fools day

April Fools Pranks

In Ask Your Target Market’s latest survey, just 21% of respondents said they are likely to prank someone for April Fools’ Day this year. And 25% expect to get pranked by others today. But in the past, 20% of respondents said they’ve pulled April Fools’ Day pranks many times. 45% said they’ve played one or two April Fools’ Day jokes in past years. 19% said they’ve been pranked on April Fools’ Day many times in the past. And 47% said they’ve just been pranked once or twice in past years.

April Fools Opinions

Overall, 48% of respondents said they have a pretty neutral opinion of April Fools’ Day. 24% have a negative opinion of the holiday. And 28% have a positive opinion of April Fools’ Day. Of those who at least somewhat enjoy the holiday, 44% of respondents said that basic jokes or untrue stories are their favorite type of April Fools’ Day pranks. 22% enjoy hiding or disguising items. 17% prefer replacing items with lookalikes. And 16% enjoy scary April Fools’ Day pranks.

Business Pranks

Sometimes, brands even get involved in the April Fools’ Day fun. And 27% of respondents said they enjoy seeing brands get involved in April Fools’ Day jokes or pranks. A few favorites from past years include Google’s annual fake news stories, Sam Adams’ fake HeliYum beer, and Netflix’s weirdly specific recommendation lists. You can view the complete survey results in the widget below and be sure to click “Open Full Report” to take advantage of all the chart and filter options.Photo Credit: Sutro Tower - Google Map April Fools joke 2012 from FlickrWhat do you want to know? If you need some consumer insights on a particular topic, let us know in the comments below and we’ll consider it for an upcoming survey post.

Results were collected on March 31 via AYTM’s online survey panel.