Take a minute to look at the face of the Apple Watch pictured above. Peer deeply into its loving gaze. Notice anything quirky?
Apple (AAPL) hid an Easter egg in plain sight on its latest Apple Watch support page. Fans—or reluctant encounterers—of the late ’80s pop ballad “Never Gonna Give You Up” by the pompadoured pop artist Rick Astley will recognize the tune immediately.
In the “Add a friend” tutorial section, the initials of the watch’s contact list spell out a familiar phrase: NE VE RG ON NA GI VE YU UP. Yup, you read that right. (We’ll forgive Apple for omitting the “O.”)
Astley’s signature single became an Internet meme—really, an Internet prank—two decades after debuting as in international chart-topper in 1987. The trick is getting someone to unwittingly play the song—say, by baiting them into clicking a masked link to the track. Once that unmistakable drum beat thumps your face, you know you’re in for.
Needless to say, the joke went viral. At present, the video has more than 143 million views.
This isn’t Apple’s first rick-rolling escapade. At the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference this year, a demo of Apple’s web browser Safari bait-and-switched a video titled “How To Wow An Audience” into a rick roll. In 2013, people caught Siri pulling up a Wikipedia page for the song in response to the question “What is today going to be like?” And it was featured on an iOS 7 support page that same year.
Other companies have partaken in the fun as well. On April Fool’s Day in 2008, Google (GOOG) made every video on YouTube redirect to the Astley’s hit.
Still, no one tops Apple. The tech giant has something of an obsession with the jam. At least you know, when it comes to Rick Astley, Apple’s never gonna let you down.
For more on rick rolling, watch this video below.
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