5 Office Pranks for April Fools’ Day

Has your office become eerily quiet? Have you heard low-toned murmurs in the cubicle next to you? Has the paranoia set in yet? April Fools’ Day is almost here, are you prepared? Here at Appleton Creative, strategically dangling fake spiders above colleagues and transforming desks into campsites are just a couple of ways we keep the office on pins and needles. If you’re looking for some inspiration to prank your office friends (or enemies), look no further. Here are our top five office pranks:

1. Water Cups

Difficulty: Easy

Result: Absolute annoyance

Simply put, the idea is to fill plastic cups with water and place them close together on the ground until the entire floor space of a room is covered. Feel free to point and laugh as your coworker individually pours out each cup to reach their desk.

2. The Unresponsive Desktop

Difficulty: Medium

Result: Calling IT

This prank will have your victim helplessly looking around for acknowledgement that they aren’t going crazy. The setup is a little more elaborate, but the payoff is well worth the extra time. The first thing you need to do is take control of your colleague’s computer while they are away. Close all program windows and take a screenshot of the desktop. Move all of the folders and files on their desktop into a new folder. Now make the image of the desktop you saved earlier the background wallpaper. Voila! Your colleague will see the photo of all the folders and files and no matter how many times they click, nothing. Your victim’s desktop will now seem completely unresponsive to the large amount of mouse clicking they will soon be performing.

3. Air Horn Office Chair

Difficulty: Medium

Result: Everyone will jump out of their seat

This prank will get the attention of the entire office. First you’ll need to go out and buy an air horn. Select your prey and setup the prank while they’re away from their desk. Tape the air horn vertically under their chair but just below the cushion. Scurry back to your desk and wait. The next time your officemate sits down, the weight of their body will lower the chair just enough to trigger the air horn. Whether or not you immediately run to their desk and laugh or simply chuckle to yourself within the confines of your cubicle is entirely up to you.

4. Upside Down Coffee Cup

Difficulty: Medium

Result: A mess to clean up

A classic and timeless prank. Fill a coffee mug with water (wasting coffee in an office is a big no-no). Press a piece of cardboard or thick paper firmly over the top of the mug. Quickly flip the mug and place it on your victim’s desk. Carefully remove the piece of cardboard or paper without spilling any of the water. Patiently wait for your colleague to pickup the innocent looking mug on their desk opening the floodgates of utter shock and surprise. Pulling this prank near your victim’s computer could result in the wrong type of shock and surprise however.

5. Autocorrect

Difficulty: Easy

Result: You’ll feel like a mad genius

The most maniacal of pranks. When your prey is out of the office or away from their desk, open Microsoft Word or Outlook on their computer. Locate the Autocorrect settings (generally found under the tools tab). You can now choose any word to be replaced by any other word you may want. The best idea is to choose words most commonly used. For example, change your victim’s name to something classy like “Mr. Big Head”, or “Richard Johnson.” When you have created an autocorrect, click the Add button and then click OK. Be sure to keep track of every word you’ve changed to make it easier to change back later. Your officemate will pull their hair out thinking their computer is possessed by an autocorrect demon.

Remember to keep your phone handy and videotape the fruits of your labor. Nothing says, “You’ve been pranked!” like uploading your victim’s reactions all over the Internet. Be respectful, responsible, and most importantly, have fun. Happy pranking!

Looking for more hilarious pranks? Check out some tasty tricks for April Fools’ Day.

Need help with more than just office pranks? Appleton Creative is an award-winning, full-service advertising agency located in Orlando, Florida. Appleton works with local, national and international clients to provide marketing strategies through print, web, social media and video production – all in-house. At Appleton, we want to learn about your business, empower your marketing team and be your creative resource. Your marketing goals are worth a conversation: contact us at 407-246-0092 or info@appletoncreative.com.