Day likely had its origin way back in the 15th Century. But today it's become more of a day for marketing mischief by big brands.

Welcome to the worst day on the internet! As Chaim Gartenberg pointed out years ago, brands and a holiday dedicated to hoaxes are rarely a winning combo. If you’re a company with any kind of social media presence in 2025, you really, truly only have four options on April Fools’ Day:

For every well-executed corporate hoax, there's an overeager company whose ill-conceived pranks have blown up in their faces, sometimes badly.