Today it just seems best to stay off the internet altogether. Perusing my news app, there were numerous headlines on topics ranging from California banning fishing in capitulation to PETA and Iran surrendering and turning the Strait of Hormuz over to US control, to NASA launching a moonshot and the US possibly leaving NATO… wait, those last two are real.
In the past I enjoyed when brands would come up with something wacky, like Stella Rose Pickle Wine, or MSI’s monitor affixed “MEG Cat Holder X87.” I still do, when it is an offbeat product or something – but I don’t like looking for actual news and seeing the deluge of click-bait bullshit under the guise of April Fool’s Day. Remember back in 1996 when Taco Bell’s announced that they were buying and renaming the Liberty Bell to Taco Liberty Bell (though if they floated that today, our current “leadership” seems on board with selling our national heritage and renaming landmarks)? Remember Pac-Man taking over Google Maps in 2015? Remember Virgin announcing that Richard Branson bought Pluto to reinstate it as a planet in 2011?
Those were fun jokes, and while they are certainly crafted to draw attention to the brand, they weren’t done to generate clicks and views. Sure, some news outlets ran with them (I recall people viewing Richard Branson as eccentric enough to actually try to buy Pluto) but it wasn’t like some “news” outlet was just making up an article with a catchy headline and saying “April Fool’s” at the end.
Anyhow, it is a beautiful day today so I think I’m going to go outside and paint…
Song of the day: Nobody’s Fool by Cinderella
Leave a Reply