April Fools Day pranks can be fun and funny. And then there are the times that they blow up in the faces of the would-be pranksters. That's exactly what happened to one online marketing company earlier this week.

While there were some genuinely clever and fun April Fools Day pranks, it's more about how the setup and execution is handled. And news site The New York Observer was none too tickled by the joke pulled by a New York City marketing firm.

Photo by Justin Louis
Photo by Justin Louis
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Here's the setup - the news site did an interview with a startup company that claimed to have developed technology to prevent a smartphone from breaking, even if dropped from a height of 10 feet.

Engaging concept, right?

The first problem? The interview and story were on Tuesday, March 31st. So The New York Observer had no reason not to believe the company, it wasn't April Fools Day.

Second, the idea isn't all that unbelievable, the technology is actually a real concept. In fact, it's such a real concept that it's already patented - by Apple.

So first, you have a prank being pulled early, and second it's a concept that they pretty much stole from one of the biggest technology companies in the world, that they're presenting as their own original idea.

The New York Observer ended up catching on and calling the company out on their misguided "prank". The irony of the whole situation is the fact that it was perpetrated by a "marketing and social media company", in other words, a business that you'd think would plan these kinds of things out a little better.

So while April Fools jokes can be fun and a good laugh, they can also backfire, too.

Have you seen any good April Fools jokes this year? Tell us in the comments!

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