April Fools’ Day occupies a special place in the heart of
internet culture—a day when tech titans like Google and YouTube
roll out elaborate pranks involving digital maps to unleash our
inner
Pokémon masters and viral
#ButterFails.
The gags this year extend beyond the human realm to include the
humiliation of our feline counterparts. Ben Huh and the team at
Cheezburger—the
online humor site that became famous for it’s viral cat memes—has
teamed up with clothing site Betabrand to launch
a cat garment line complete with hipster-inspired tees, crop
tops, and a Silence of the Lambs-esque human skin
onesie.
And while the entertaining photoshops of cats in clothes is for
now an April Fools’ stunt, Cheezburger has intimated that
if the site sparks enough interest, they might produce an actual
line of kitten couture.
So just why do tech companies embrace April Fools’ Day
shenanigans so enthusiastically and expend countless man-hours
crafting intricate hoaxes that are likely to be forgotten within a
day? The answer could lie in the disruptive culture of the
internet—a culture that perfectly compliments the mischievous
nature of All Fools’ Day.
In 2012, Reason TV producer Zach Weissmueller interviewed Ben
Huh about the nature and morals of the internet and why the ability
of individuals to create their own content (even if that content is
feline crop tops) is a good thing for society. You can watch the
full interview below:
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