- Car manufacturers love April Fools Day.
It's a chance for what is normally
a pretty conservative industry
to let loose and show customers
just how fun and laid-back they are.
They make fake announcements
or produce dumb promo videos for cars or features--
- Excuse me, who are you?
- I saw the post for a new host--
- No, it's not for this show.
- Oh, oh okay. Alright. Sorry.
Guys, follow me on Instagram @cironephotosucks.
Y'all check me out on Twitter, IG, hit me up on facespace.
- Car manufacturers love April Fools Day.
It's a chance for what is normally
a pretty conservative industry
to let loose and show customers
just how fun and laid-back they are.
Today is April 1st, so you're probably seeing
a whole new batch of trite pranks that fool no one.
But let's take a look at some April Fools pranks
of years past that are just the worst.
I am so thankful Donut has never
done any April Fools jokes.
(hip-hop music)
(rock music)
Number one.
Last year, Hyundai created a fake promotional video
with a title "Inside Hyundai's Secret Proving Ground".
You think it's just a straightforward promo video
showing the i30N Hatchback drifting around a test course,
until, hold on.
- [Narrator] Cacao Corner.
- Chocolate? Chocolate?
Chocolate?!
- Hyundai is so goofy that they covered one of corners
on their test track in cocoa powder
because of out of all the materials they tested,
cocoa shows the tire treads and aerodynamics the best.
What?
You could be using that cocoa for chocolate milk.
Actually I'm kind of over milk.
- [Crowd] Nolan! Nolan! Nolan!
- I mean, this is beyond dumb.
There's about three more minutes
of the video still hammering the same joke.
Oh look!
So the team making the chocolate.
And here's the car in the chocolate.
What's the point of the video again?
- Chocolate!
(rock music)
- Number two.
In 2011, BMW got everyone's hopes up
with a fake M3 truck concept.
They went so far as to make a working version,
and it looks sick.
I would totally drive this thing.
BMW stated the tiny truck's V8 made 414 horsepower
and weighed 50 kilograms less than the M3 coupe.
Leave it to the Germans to make
a legitimately cruel April Fools prank.
If you're listening BMW, please make this truck.
Small pick-ups are making a comeback,
and I think it'd be a great business decision.
Sincerely, me and the rest of the world.
(rock music)
Number three.
Once in a while, car companies will even do the same prank.
On April Fools Day 2014, Skoda introduced the Yeti Ice.
This Czech crossover was supposedly covered
in white faux fur created by engineers
working in the Himalayas.
You know, where the yetis be at.
- Welcome to the Himalayas.
- McLaren introduced the feather wrap
three years later in 2017.
- [Narrator] We call it biomimicry.
- This wrap was made of 10,000 unique
carbon-veined feathers.
While being extremely technically impressive,
that's basically the same joke as Skoda.
- [Narrator] Biomimicry. Biomimicry.
- Try better, McLaren.
BMW again pulled the same prank last year,
albeit a much lazier version.
They introduced the X2 in a new digital camo wrap.
Putting a wrap on a car is not a prank.
Legitimately disappointed in you,
and you should feel ashamed.
I guarantee you there's at least a dozen
real versions of this being driven
by club promoters in Miami.
They probably saw that and were like,
"Aw hell yeah, dude, this looks sick."
(rock music)
Number four.
When is a prank not a prank?
How about when it causes the company
to actually lose money?
I'm of course referring to
last year's tweets by Elon Musk,
in which he himself posted a pic with a cardboard sign
reading "Bankwupt" in front of Tesla.
Bankwupt.
Elon is no stranger to pranks and stunts,
but this one was pretty poorly timed.
Tesla had just had one of the worst weeks ever,
which included manufacturing bottlenecks and recalls,
and after this tweet, stocks in Tesla fell 5%.
- (laughing) That actually happened?
(rock music)
- Number five.
Not all April Fools pranks are horrible though.
Sometimes, they are very believable.
The Jeep grille grill was an entirely plausible option
that you could see on a jeep.
And you know Wrangler heads would actually
buy this thing if it was real.
Hell, I would buy a Jeep just to have this feature.
And I don't even like being outdoors
or grilling or having fun or hanging out with people
or really anything besides being in my room in the dark.
(rock music)
Number six.
While erybody out here gettin' goofy,
Lexus pulled a downright creepy prank.
The Genetic Select program was a fictional collaboration
with 23andMe that used people's DNA
to custom tailor a car for them.
If you have sensitive skin,
the windows tint to protect you.
If you're nearsighted,
the windshield will focus for you.
It was an eerily dystopian
and somewhat realistic glimpse at the future.
And the worst part of this whole fantasy,
you have to lick the steering wheel
to start the engine.
Ugh. I don't even know where my own hands have been.
(rock music)
Number seven.
On April Fools Day 2016, Mini introduced the hipster hatch,
a nod to the fact that most of their clientele
are in that demographic.
The outside is plaid like the shirt
of a microbrew enthusiast from Austin,
the seats are upholstered with ashid wassed denim.
Washed?
Ashid washed?
Wass. Wass.
(mumbling)
I can't say it!
The seats are upholstered with acid washed denim,
the stereo has dual tape players
with an old school equalizer.
The windows are tinted with Instagram filters,
but my favorite detail,
there's only one gear.
(bell rings)
An homage to fixed gear bicycles that hipsters ride.
Everyone knows hipsters love having one gear.
I should know, I ride one.
Gears and beers, baby.
(rock music)
Number eight.
Romanian car maker Dacia made a play
on their most popular model, the Sandero, in 2017.
The Sundero was joke car with tanning bed lights.
- [Narrator] Not just Sundero. Not just Sundero.
- Get it? Sandero.
Sun.
Sundero.
The ad ran in the UK where there isn't much sunlight,
and people love dry humor.
Let us know if you're from the UK
and thought the Sundero was funny.
(rock music)
Number nine.
Opel did a funny one year,
and came out with a car inspired by the Rio World Cup.
The Opel Astra Copacabana had everything
from Brazilian flag colored stripes on the outside,
to grass covered seats, to a caipirinha dispenser.
That's Brazil's national cocktail
for all you out of the loop like myself.
I couldn't even pronounce it five seconds ago.
The video is very cringey,
and has a level of acting and editing
you'd expect from a commercial
for a local dealership.
- Palm trees.
- Football.
- Respect.
- Remember, this was put out
by a multibillion dollar company.
- Respect.
- It was so poorly received,
that Opel's pinned comment is an apology for the video.
I guess they didn't like the sand.
- Respect.
(rock music)
- Number ten.
Here's a wholesome one to round out our list
of the best worst April Fools pranks by car companies.
BMW of New Zealand ran an ad in newspapers
on April 1st of 2015 that looked like an obvious prank.
The ad description said that if you bring in
your old car to the dealership
and ask for a guy named Tom, you get a new BMW.
Obviously most people were too smart to fall for it,
considering the ad said
in big block letters "April Fools' Day Special."
But, one woman named Tianna Marsh
decided there's no harm in trying
and actually brought in her 15 year old Nissan,
asked for Tom,
and was immediately rewarded with a brand new Beamer.
That's an April Fools joke I can get behind.
It's no mystery why car companies
do stupid pranks like these.
I still can't get the cocoa road out of my head.
- [Narrator] Cacao Corner.
- Respect.
- I'm just glad that Donut has never stooped that low.
Right?
(car tires screech)
- April Fools!
(car tires screech)
- You know what would be a really funny prank?
If you like this video.
(laughs)
Oh yeah. Subscribe to the Donut,
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Follow me on Instagram @nolanjsykes.
Follow Donut @donutmedia.
Be nice.
I'll see ya next time.