Google - The Art of the Prank

April 20, 2017December 15, 2023

Fast Food Ad Pulls a Fast One

A clever and controversial Burger King TV ad stokes fears about the internet of things and our accelerating rate of information exchange.

“Burger King”s new ad forces Google Home to advertise the Whopper”
by Jacob Kastrenakes
The Verge
April 12, 2017

Burger King is unveiling a horrible, genius, infuriating, hilarious, and maybe very poorly thought-out ad today that”s designed to intentionally set off Google Homes and Android phones.

The 15-second ad features someone in a Burger King uniform leaning into the camera before saying, “OK Google, what is the Whopper burger?”

For anyone with a Google Home near their TV, that strangely phrased request will prompt the speaker to begin reading the Wikipedia entry for the Whopper. It”s a clever way of getting viewers” attention, but it”s also a really quick way of getting on viewers” nerves “” just look at the reactions people had when ads accidentally triggered voice assistants in the past.
“Burger King”s ad relies on Wikipedia, which is maybe not a good idea”

While Burger King is far from the first to recognize that it”s possible to mess with someone else”s smart speaker, it”s certainly the first to put it into a widely run ad campaign. The spot is supposed to begin running in prime-time slots across the US today on networks including History, Spike, Comedy Central, MTV, E!, and Bravo, and it will air during Adult Swim, The Tonight Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Google wasn”t involved in the ad”s creation. That means this isn”t an expansion of Google”s ad tests (people weren”t happy when Google built a Beauty and the Beast ad into the speaker), but it also leads to some real issues for Burger King. For one, it has to use weird phrasing “” “What is the Whopper burger?” “” because that”s the query that actually gets the result it wants. Asking “What is a Whopper?” gets you the definition of the word “whopper.”

And then there”s the bigger problem: Google gets its explanation of the Whopper from Wikipedia. And as we all know, anyone”s free to edit Wikipedia. Read more.

April 1, 2016December 15, 2023

Google’s Rare April Fool’s Foul

Like everything else in the tech world, April Fool’s Day is highly competitive. For years, the supple minds at Google led with the cleverist, “stickiest” stunts.

It’s barely dawn on the West Coast, and this year’s edition has already confused and alienated enough users to prompt a rare and serious backlash and retraction. Verdict: Too hip for the room.

“Google Disables April Fool’s Joke Amid User Fury After Prank Backfires”
By Alex Hern
The Guardian
April 1, 2016

minionmicdrop Google”s April Fools” Day prank has backfired, leaving the company looking the fool and a number of concerned users fearing for their jobs – or worse.

As 1 April began in Australia, the company announced its latest stunt: “Gmail Mic Drop”, a special version of the send button which appends a gif of a minion (one of the sexless, ageless merchandising icons from the Despicable Me series) dressed as the queen dropping a microphone to the end of your email.

“Everyone will get your message, but that”s the last you”ll ever hear about it,” Google added in a blogpost announcing the feature. “Yes, even if folks try to respond, you won”t see it.”

For most companies, that would be the end of it, but Google has a longstanding tradition of actually building the products they “announce” on April Fools” Day, even if they only survive for 24 hours. Read more.

November 21, 2011December 15, 2023

Fake Branding Courtesy of Google+

Fake Google+ Profile Looks Bad For Bank Of America, But Worse For Google
Huffington Post
November 16, 2011

A Google+ account titled “Bank of America” posted a series of updates last week mocking homeowners who couldn”t pay their mortgages.

“Big company party in foreclosed house #2340087 tonight!” read one post.

Another warned Occupy Wall street protesters, “You will sit down and shut up, or we will foreclose on you.”

The Google+ profile featured a Bank of America logo, a link to the bank”s website, and the address and phone number of its New York headquarters. And though it boasted the same name as Bank of America”s official page — it was a fake.

Bank of America is one of several high-profile brands, including Disney, that have had their identities usurped on Google+ by users impersonating the companies. Continue reading “Fake Branding Courtesy of Google+”

December 1, 2010December 15, 2023

Google Street Theater, Act II

Naked man in boot on German Google Street View
by A.Phillips
Business Review Europe
November 24, 2010

Google Street View has been launched in Germany after a lot of skepticism and protest from the German population

The launch has been like no other with images appearing of a woman apparently giving birth on a pavement and a naked man in the boot of a car next to what appears to be a dead dog.

The bizarre images have been removed by Google, who has revealed that they are under investigation; however the pictures in question have already made their way onto social media sites and forums and have sparked a wave on controversy and speculation.

A photograph taken in the Berlin suburb of Wilmersdorf captures a woman lying in the street after apparently giving birth while a kneeling man cradles a newborn baby.

However, popular debate suggests that the scene captured by Google”s street cars was almost certainly a prank. Continue reading “Google Street Theater, Act II”