Posted on by tanster

OfficeTally’s April Fools Day prank, 2010

After taking a break from April Fools Day shenanigans last year, OfficeTally returned with an important announcement for 2010.

For this year’s April Fools Day prank, OfficeTally announced it had been “integrated into Google.”

OfficeTally sported Google’s minimalist page design — gone were OfficeTally’s trademark quote banner and links to popular features such as The Office episode schedule and spoilers page.

Here is what OfficeTally’s home page looked like for most of today:

April Fools Day

If you had clicked around, you would have seen that it was a fully functioning site — all of OfficeTally’s content was still there, it just had a Google skin laid on top. (Thanks to Woogle for that.)

And if you had clicked the OfficeTally Terms of Service link at the top right corner of the page, you would have seen the full disclosure:

April Fools Day

The Googlified site was live from around 1:30am to 3pm PT. Just like in 2008, comments streamed in throughout the day, but I only posted the ones that didn’t catch on to the joke… for full pranking effect. (All comments have now been posted.)

Anyway, thanks for being good sports about it all! I figured since there is no new episode of The Office tonight, you wouldn’t mind too much.

In conclusion:

  • OfficeTally is NOT part of Google. This was an April Fool’s prank.
  • We now resume regular OfficeTally programming, quote banner and all.
  • This post was formerly titled “Are you guys up for another Office peeps contest?” and the original content is here. Full details about the contest coming Friday! The contest is NOT a prank. :)
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251 comments

  4. Yes, Peeps are still available and I would imagine they will be until sometime after Easter! I would love to enter this contest!

  5. Yes they are still in stores (if you act fast). If the deadline is Easter or earlier it might be too difficult for people to get their entries in, but if the deadline was afterwards it might work.

  8. I was wondering if you were going to do this again. I didn’t enter last year but would definitely enter this time around. Peeps are going fast but I think stores have enough for us to do something with. Maybe not a scene but instead doing the title of an episode. That would really get the creative juices flowing.

  9. i was actually surprised you DIDN’T already have the contest up and running!

    great seeing you on ‘company picnic’ last night on tbs! :D

  11. I would participate this year. I just looked over last year’s entries and they were so cute! I wish I knew about this site back then.

  12. Yes, I loved this contest. I mean my entry last year was weak compared to all the finalists but I loved looking at what people made.

  13. Only season 6 scenes will make it kind of hard because we won’t be able to go back and look at all of the episodes. Any chance you’ll reconsider that part? How about any scene that wasn’t depicted by one of last year’s finalists?

    [from tanster: ah, let me think about that. thanks for the feedback!]

  14. YAY! I loved the entries from last year. I missed out because I don’t live in the US, so I wasn’t eligible.
    But this year…could I still participate, but not win a prize?

    Can’t wait to see everyone’s entries!

  15. #14 – I was wondering that myself. I would love to participate, and I don’t care about the prize. Would that be okay, Tanster?

  16. I love this contest! I don’t know if I will have time this year as this is a busy time of year for me, but at the very least I will get to enjoy watching all the creative entries.

  17. I drew out what scene I’m going to do and tomorrow I will go buy my “supplies”. I’m so glad I’m off and have the time to do this. Good luck to all, can’t wait to see all the greatness!

  18. @13 I just did a search on google image for the scene I wanted to do and it came up (twss) if that helps at all for ya.

  19. OH MY GOSH!!! I looked at last years contest pics and I STILL have tears rolling down my face! Hands down, the best contest ever!!! I can’t wait to see what people come up with this year! If I had a shred of creativity in me, I’d participate, too. But, I’ll leave it to the professional peepsters :)

  21. AHHH! What happened to OfficeTally!? Is this another April Fools joke?!?! I don’t like this design at all!

  23. Why isn’t the office tally website showing up. I try to go to office tally.com and it says that officetally is now integrated with google.

  24. I sure hope this “integration with Google” thing is an April Fool’s joke. This is terrible!

  25. TANSTER WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SITE??? I don’t like the new integration with Google at ALL… did they make you do that or you chose to?? it’s so hard to find everything and nothing about the site feels ‘Office’y…. i am sad =(

  29. Guys I’m pretty sure it’s an April Fools joke. They do something every year.

  32. ummmm explanation please about the google thing???

    Seriously….. this just reeks of corporation buy out. Where’s the fan-run site that I know and love???

  35. delete my comment……. it’s far too early in my day and before my coffee.

  36. This “integrated with Google” thing has to be an April Fool’s joke. It sucks too much to be real.

  39. What happened to my beloved officetally?? I don’t like this new format at all!

  40. This seems like one of Tanster’s very fabulous April Fool’s Day jokes… :0)

  46. haha! Well done, Tanster. I enjoy the April Fool in you =) I can always count on you for a good April fools laugh. Have a good day!!

  55. HAHA! I’m thinking this may be the best April Fools’ Day Joke yet!

    Brava Tanster! You are Queen!

  58. WAIT— You guys, it’s April Fool’s Day. Isn’t Tanster notorious for messing with us on April Fools? :)

  60. You guys, don’t forget the date. I’m hoping this is just an April Fools joke :)

  61. I look forward to this day every year to see what you’re going to do with the site. This is just awesome!

  74. Happy April Fool’s, tanster! You’re not fooling me this time. ;) This is quite the prank! Nice work!

  76. Haha, holy April Fools Tanster! This almost tops your last one. I love watching people freak out.

  78. I’m sure that Tanster will hold onto this post until later today BUT: Would everyone please look at your calendars and then have a good laugh. Great Tanster, this is the best one yet! :D

  80. Boom, Michael Scarn! Does anyone know what April Fools is? Relax people…

  89. I’m sure this is just a temporary glitch you guys! At least I hope… :\

  93. I really… REALLY… hope everyone that’s freaking out is just joking. It’s not like it’s April 1st or anything.

  94. Got worried there for a minute, tanster! Then I realized what day it is…nicely done :)

  98. wait…this is an april fools joke isnt it?! ahahahahaha!! i was freaking out for a moment.
    good one tanster. xD

  101. i have to agree with everyone else….what happened to the website???? it just looks dumb without the usual setup!

  105. Ummm…is this maybe an April Fool’s Day prank? Or could it possibly be a takeover by Sab-ray? Really hard to find anything….

  112. Don’t despair, guys! Remember that it’s April 1. I’m guessing that Tanster is having a little fun with us!

  113. Guys, what is today? Doesn’t anyone remember a couple years ago when Office Tally was “purchased” by NBC?

    APRIL FOOLS DAY!

  114. Seems like people forgot what day it is. I refreshed the page three times before figuring it out. Nice one!

  118. to everyone freaking out: check the date today =)

    p.s. can’t wait for the new peeps entries, i wish i was that creative!

  120. Don’t panic everyone remember what day it is. At least I hope that is what is going on here!

  129. WOW people… it is April 1st and we all know Tanster likes to fool us! Think of this as a time to appreciate how much we all love the setup of Office Tally and how grateful we will be when it is back up!

  140. It should say Topeka actually…

    Great job Tanster, I didn’t think you’d be able to top last year’s.

  149. @jay I’m sure whatever happened it wasn’t tanster’s fault, or probably wasn’t by choice. that being said, we need the old site back!

  155. “OfficeTally is now integrated with Google”
    I hope this wasn’t tanster’s idea because I really hate it.

    It’s not a website anymore, just a couple of links on Google. :(

  159. yeah, wth is going on with google/officetally? was there some kind of merger? whatever it is, i don’t like it…

  161. It’s April Fool’s day, folks. Tanster got us again. I’m sure the site will be back tomorrow.

  183. I freaked out for a sec. Then I realized it was April Fool’s Day :) well done Tanster! Every year is better than the last haha

  184. I don’t know what everyone’s mad about. I can search the site better this way.

  188. What is this? I can’t find the old site. Tanster, please clarify what’s going on!

  190. What’s wrong with Office tally? I can’t get to the site properly. :( I NEED you, Office Tally, I need you to be normal! Oh dear, hope my computer doesn’t have a bug!

  192. This new integrated with Google thing couldn’t possibly have anything to do with April Fool’s Day, could it?

  193. Okay, I’m calling this website thing an April Fool’s Joke. That’s the only explanation I can possibly think of! Come on…tell me I’m right?!?!?! I mean, Google renamed itself Topeka as an April Fool’s joke, so this is just more shenanigans, right?

  196. is this “new site” an april fool’s day joke perhaps?? one can hope…

  197. I’m sure this is an April Fool’s prank, but bring back the regular site!

  200. Ugh! I hate the way this is set up now. This is just like a google search and not a website. Bring the old format back! Does anyone like it this way?

  201. You guys do realise what day it is right??
    Tanster pulls another April Fool :)
    If in doubt, click on the OfficeTally Terms Of Service…

  206. I love tanster’s April fool’s jokes. I fell for it the first time, but now I’m ready for ’em!

  209. The integration with Google is an April Fools joke, right? I love this site but wouldn’t enjoy it like this.

  221. C’mon people, lighten up and check today’s date, it’s April Fools Day! Last year tanster joked that her site was being bought by NBC Uni or something, remember?

  233. Ha! So called it. I love April Fools. I managed to prank my whole family via facebook convincing them I’m engaged. Haha. Pranks are fun. Jim would agree.

  235. HAHAH. i wanted to go on officetally during my biology class cause i didn’t want to listen but i had no idea what was going on.

  236. Thank goodness!!! Well aren’t you a little Jim Halpert in training Tanster! Very sneaky :)

  237. Yes, Tanster, Jim and Pam would be so proud. Good job.

    [from tanster: thank you! :) ]

  238. Oh man, you got me! I was worried my computer was messed up because everything looked cached. I’m so gullible. I feel like Dwight. Hope you know how much we love you, Office Tally!

    [from tanster: i love you guys, too. :) ]

  241. Didn’t get to see it, but sounds interesting. My computer still shows the google icon as my favicon.

  242. Ok, I saw this today when I checked the site from my phone, but I thought I had just accidently searched for OfficeTally on google rather than visiting the link. Did not get the joke at all. LOL Good job!

  243. wow. can’t believe i fell for that – i can usually catch these things. I was so scared though because officetally is so amazing as it is :-)
    Anyway, good one, tanster!

  244. You’re not the only one fooling us about The Office today…did you see tv.com ‘s home page? Scared me to death.

  246. At first I thought “Is tanster needing money THAT badly?”, thinking it was a money-based move, not that I know anything about those kinds of things. Great job!!

  247. Well Tanster, if there was any doubt about how people feel about the wonderful setup you’ve created for this site… now we all know. Thank you for all that you do for us! :)

    [from tanster: awww, thank you! :) ]

  249. I was hoping this was an April Fool’s joke. This is awful. I want our old site layout back. Impossible to find anything.

  250. Thank goodness….it was still the google joke until I posted my comment and then your beautiful site reappeared. My face is red. Love you Tanster!

  251. Thank goodness! I didn’t like the new lay out and I wasn’t going to visit anymore. It was too hard to find stuff!

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