Microsoft Exec Laughs Off Internet Explorer Controversies With Hilarious 'Do Not Tracksuit'
This gag essentially laughs at the drama surrounding company's controversial choice to make Do Not Track a default as opposed to opt-in setting on the Internet Explorer 10 web browser. Advertisers were very angry about the decision — and lack of warning — and vowed to ignore the Do Not Track setting since there was no way to determine if users actually cared about tracking.
Shaw pokes fun at the Do Not Track drama with the supposedly launch of the Do Not Tracksuit, set to sell in polyester and "luxurious velour" on April 1, 2014.
What does it do?
"Simply put, it blocks the wearer from being tagged, checked in, scanned, filmed, recorded, hashtagged or poked, in the real world and the virtual world. Because in today’s social media obsessed landscape, too often people can unwittingly become “content” in other people’s lifecasting schemes."
An "engineer" explained on the blog post, "Remember that scene in Minority Report where all of the billboards started calling him by name? We thought consumers deserved to opt out of that sort of thing. The Do Not Tracksuit is our first step."
Google also created a slew of April Fools' prank products, including Google Treasure Maps, Google Smell, and Gmail Blue.