This April Fool's Day, thanks to some brands - the joke's on us...

... from glow in the dark burgers, restrooms on the go and even an AI Prime Minister...

Strange products, pranks and weird new services - this April Fool's Day, pranks were quite rampant, as usual. Most of them were routine; a glance at the date was enough to guess that it was a ruse. But some brands went the extra mile leaving us quite confused and, in some cases, hopeful; nonetheless, we had a good laugh in the end.

Here's a roundup of some of the brands that had us fooled:-

1. Netflix India and Sacred Games 2

Ever since Netflix India released season 1 of the series, they've been tight-lipped about season 2's release. However, on March 19, they put out a tweet that got the fans quite excited.

Calendar nikaal. Tareekh likh le. 14 din mein kuch bada hone wala hai.

— Netflix India (@NetflixIndia) 19 March 2019

Further, they also put out an Instagram post with a mysterious set of Mandalas and Sanskrit-sounding names that were similar to those from season 1's episodes.

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A post shared by Netflix India (@netflix_in)

Alas! It was all a prank. At around 9.00 AM on April 1, they released this video -

Koi bolta hai sach hai, koi bolta hai mazak, par mandala kabhi kisi ko samajh mein nahi aya. pic.twitter.com/Io681VfPrS

— Netflix India (@NetflixIndia) 1 April 2019

It wasn't just a prank though; the video was also their way of announcing that the popular American TV show - Friends - is now streaming on their platform.

2. Ola Restrooms

Introducing Ola Restrooms. A place to go, for a generation that's on the go. #OlaRestrooms #NoPressure pic.twitter.com/H7vQh0JktR

— Ola (@Olacabs) 29 March 2019

Popular ride-hailing service, Ola, came up with an innovative solution to a commonly faced problem because, after all, when you have to go, you have to go. They released a video on March 29 advertising a mobile restroom service that would've been available on the Ola app on call. They even went the extra mile, promising to offer a clean and hygienic restroom experience.

Looking for a clean loo? Look no further than your phone screen. Book an Ola Restroom. Update coming soon. #NoPressure #OlaRestrooms pic.twitter.com/vxHhpl6kVT

— Ola (@Olacabs) 31 March 2019

When users guessed it was a prank, they had some rather interesting questions for the company -

What if your drivers cancels the trip??? 😜

— Hi Hyderabad (@HiHyderabad) 31 March 2019

While Booking : Ola Toilet- 2 mins away.
After Booking : Ola Toilet- 15 mins away.

Arghhhh!

— Harshie (@harshdeeprapal) 31 March 2019

3. Ixigo's Flight Catching Contest

Catch this flight and fly for free!

Send us the screenshot of the flight in the frame and you may be one of the 5 lucky winners who gets to fly to a domestic destination under 5k 😃

To win:
1. Follow @ixigo
2. RT & answer with #ixigoFlyHigh
3. Tag your friends

#ContestAlert pic.twitter.com/8NYP5VURna

— ixigo (@ixigo) 1 April 2019

Ixigo announced a contest where the winner would get to fly to a domestic destination under Rs 5000 if they were able to take a screenshot of the plane over the outline.

Catching a flight is not so easy when it's a Catch-22 situation!😉

April Fool banaya, bada maza aaya!😂 pic.twitter.com/hEcsifk4KM

— ixigo (@ixigo) 1 April 2019

The video had the plane flying a little too fast on purpose to prank users. That didn't stop people from giving it their best shot!

Here is the screenshot of flight ✈ caught by Shilpi#ixigoflyhigh#ContestAlert@blessedkamal@alokg_81@DivzArjun@sanchitabhartiy@JainShantilal12@asfiaj@shubham599gupta@AdityGrg@toposant55@rashmibapna1107@yashgandhi66@VHetal@misty_basu @athar_1_ @geetztandon pic.twitter.com/UTXawCRMT3

— Shilpi (@porwal_shilpi) 1 April 2019

Here's my perfect screenshot flying high with pride ✈ #ixigoFlyHigh @ixigo ❤

Join in :@Abid11677715 ✈@daddy_143__ ✈@SunilDSouza_ ✈@VHetal ✈@VyavharAgarwal ✈ pic.twitter.com/6LNX3GcA0x

— Zaid Abdullah (@Zaaid08) 1 April 2019

4. Razorpay's Non-Aadmi Party

Razorpay is a payment gateway that announced their foray into politics, ahead of the upcoming general elections. In a world where Big Brother is always watching, this made us sit up and take notice because they announced the first ever political party powered entirely by artificial intelligence.

Excited to announce our first step into the Indian politics - @NonAadmiParty. It is the first AI-powered political party launched by a startup. Our PM candidate AAI will change the political face of India.
Coming soon to the polling booths near you! https://t.co/U91czixnua

— Razorpay (@Razorpay) 1 April 2019

The Non-Aadmi Party positioned itself as a political startup and they even had their own manifesto (hyperlink to: https://razorpay.com/non-aadmi-party/)!

PM AAI will fix open manholes even before children fall into them, PM AAI will provide jobs even before youngsters finish their education. Click on the link below to read the @NonAadmiParty manifesto and how we plan to bring the future to you. https://t.co/U91czixnua pic.twitter.com/8OBHXoS7g9

— Razorpay (@Razorpay) 1 April 2019

The manifesto included instant cashback on income tax payments, citizen reviews of cabinets on Glassdoor and cooler names for cities.

5. McDonald's and a glow in the dark burger

For a while there it looked like McDonald's had indeed come up with a solution to eating in the dark. They posted a photograph of a fluorescent burger with what looked like a beetroot patty. They didn't have to mention that it was an April Fool's prank - the radioactive-looking burger was definitely too weird to be true.

Hey night owls, eating in the dark won't be a problem anymore! #ComingSoon pic.twitter.com/uTGo7AJ0rC

— McDonald's India (@mcdonaldsindia) 30 March 2019

6. ICC reimagined #CricketNotAsYouKnowIt

ICC announced a hilarious new set of rules to make the game more appealing to younger generations.

As part of our efforts to make the game more appealing to younger generations, the ICC will be applying both numbers and Instagram handles to kits from the beginning of the World Test Championship. pic.twitter.com/XnvantQfc9

— ICC (@ICC) 1 April 2019

In further changes ahead of the World Test Championship, the tradition of the coin toss will be replaced by a @Twitter poll, allowing fans at home to decide who bats and bowls! pic.twitter.com/7wOuB8psZJ

— ICC (@ICC) 1 April 2019

Should the temperature reach 35°C, the ICC's updated playing conditions will allow all Test players the option to wear shorts ☀🌡 pic.twitter.com/TEFHahhPkL

— ICC (@ICC) 1 April 2019

In a move to bring fans even closer to the sport, broadcasters will have the option to position commentators on the field of play behind the slips cordon 🎙 pic.twitter.com/l8FMdFcCZ9

— ICC (@ICC) 1 April 2019

After taking a catch, the fielding team will be permitted to complete a 'Double Wicket Play' by running out the other batsman ✌ pic.twitter.com/1XN6rAT9lD

— ICC (@ICC) 1 April 2019

Two minor changes will be made to cricket terminology with no balls and dot balls to henceforth be known as 'Faults' and 'Aces'. pic.twitter.com/3gFdhO4c59

— ICC (@ICC) 1 April 2019

Runs scored in the evening session of day/night Tests will count double, creating a new and exciting strategic element 🌙✖2️⃣ pic.twitter.com/Hqzzwe8sbY

— ICC (@ICC) 1 April 2019

And finally, should teams be level on the World Test Championship table, the first tie-breaking criteria will be 'Away Runs.'

So which of these initiatives are you most looking forward to? 🤔#CricketNotAsYouKnowIt pic.twitter.com/HHxUvxdv7k

— ICC (@ICC) 1 April 2019

7. Google let users play Snake and clean your phone from the inside

The tech giant is notorious for coming up with innovative April Fool's pranks. Last year, they introduced a "Where's Waldo" game within its map interface where users could use the map to search for the titular character.

This year, Google did something similar, allowing users to play a game of snake on apps, navigating through different cities around the world and picking up passengers along the way.

Google let users play the iconic snake game through Google Maps

These were some of the cities that users could choose from

The more passengers you picked up, the higher your score.

Picking up passengers helped you score points

Then there was the phone cleaner claimed to have smudge detection properties that allowed the app to clean smudges on the outside your phone too... from inside the screen. Quite a wild claim, even for Google!

8. Snapdeal's colour-changing shirts

The much awaited smart shirt that changes color with an app is open for sale! Register & Get in now 👉 https://t.co/sphEXA3PTv #SmartShirt #MegaDeals pic.twitter.com/yung975ft1

— Snapdeal (@snapdeal) 1 April 2019

Snapdeal announced the introduction of colour-changing shirts. The e-commerce site that shirts would originally come in white and with the help of an app, you could change its colour within 30 seconds.

Snapdeal even crafted a web page that allowed users to pre-book the shirt, but once you entered your details, it took you to a page that wished users a happy April Fool's day.

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