photo courtesy of istock/ getty images plus – Ildo Frazao
The Greatest April Fools Day Prank? Probably Not. But It’s Got Longevity.
It was April 1st, 2008 that YouTube pulled a fast one on us for April Fool’s Day. It tricked users into clicking video links that actually took them to this song. Several other websites had the same idea, creating an unintentional, internet-wide April Fool’s joke we’ve come to know and love as “Rickrolling”
It’s the 1987 hit single for British artist Rick Astley. Why Rick Astley? Why this song? Songfacts has the explanation. Before there was Rickrolling, there was Duckrolling. It started online, in a video game group chat when the owner made the word “egg” autocorrect to “duck”, turning “eggroll” into “duckroll”. An image of a duck with wheels showed up, and users had fun tricking others into clicking links that led to the picture of the duck.
Rick Astley came into play in May of 2007, when a user on the video game forum posted a link claiming to be the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV game trailer, but actually led to the famous “Never Gonna Give You Up” video.
“Duckrolling” changed into “Rickrolling,” and a new internet phenomenon was born.
By the time April Fools’ Day rolls around in 2008, over 25 million people click on YouTube’s copies of the video. Well played internet. Well played.
