Five April Fool's Day pranks played by brands in the UAE

From fake documentaries to exotic dog breeds, many have been caught out

McGettigan's said it was launching a wedding planning service as part of an April Fool's prank. Photo: Instagram

Even though April Fool’s Day comes around once a year, brands still manage to catch us out time and time again.

And this year was no different, with several regional and global companies playing pranks across social media, with many of their followers falling for it.

From fake documentaries to exotic dog breeds, here are some of the best pranks spotted in the UAE today.

Stray Dogs Centre

The UAE dog rescue centre Stray Dogs Centre, in Umm Al Quwain, played a prank on its Instagram followers, saying that a “very rare Cheebull has come into its possession”.

Alongside a picture of a bulldog which had been covered in spots and painted to look like a cheetah, the post said the dog was given to them “via an internet source and is looking for his fooleva home”.

Crank

Fitness studio Crank, which has branches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, played a prank on its followers, saying it would be featuring in a Netflix documentary later this year.

The studio’s general manager, Nuno Costa Fernandes, shared a picture of team Crank alongside a Netflix logo, saying: “I am stoked to announce that Netflix will be releasing a documentary about Crank by the end of the year. Part will be about my story of becoming an instructor during my teenage years, while taking my masters in engineering and moving to Dubai with 200 euros in my bank account.

“Then the main part will be about Crank and how we have created a brand from scratch, made in UAE and changed people’s perspective of exercise by bringing the market leader state-of-the-art fitness + nightclub experience.”

While some were quick to spot the prank, many were fooled by the post.

McGettigan's

Lively Irish bar McGettigan's fooled its followers by announcing it would be launching a wedding planning service.

A press release from McGettigan's said: “Nothing beats an Irish wedding, and McGettigan’s wants to offer brides and grooms an unforgettable experience, creating lasting memories for them, their friends, and families.”

The service, reportedly called “McGett a Wedding”, was said to have been inspired by the brand’s pop-up bar at the Dubai World Cup, which took place at the weekend, and would involve couples hiring out the venue, having McGettigan’s cater it, and of course, provide entertainment. We think there might actually be a few people who are sad to learn this is a prank.

ekar

Car sharing app ekar announced on Friday that it would be launching a new ekaraoke service, a new AI technology that would allow drivers to sing along to their favourite tunes using voice recognition, greatly enhancing their singing voice.

Via a press release, the company said: “Carshare, subscription leasing, and peer-to-peer members can now sing along to their favourite songs while driving an ekar. The ekaraoke software in the ekar Super App uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) voice recognition technology to grade the excellence of a singer's voice — from awful to simply awesome!”

Again, there will be many who are sad this one isn’t true.

Duolingo

The language learning app marked April Fool’s Day by issuing an “urgent” video message to its users, suggesting that several of its members who had not been active on the app recently had “mysteriously vanished”.

The video suggests that a masked version of the app’s animated mascot was behind the kidnappings. “Has your family been taken by a corporate mascot?” the video says, before promoting a dedicated hotline: 781-stop-owl.