As this year’s April Fools Day fades away in the rearview mirror, it’s a nice excuse to look at some of the best and worst pranks made by brands in the name of ‘harmless’ fun.
With so many different brands in the commerce space, it’s a constant competition to stand out from the crowd. April Fools Day is a great opportunity for brands to draw attention to themselves and get consumers talking in a light-hearted way.
Coming up with a comedic prank to roll out on April 1st is a great way for brands to really humanise themselves and show a playful side, something that may not be as easy to convey through everyday marketing activities. A successful April Fools gag can strengthen the bond between brand and consumer, enhancing the perception of the brand to both existing and prospective customers.
There’s a fine line between successfully pranking your customers into believing something harmless and misleading them under false pretences. A good April Fools prank should make your customers laugh both at the point of introduction and again when they discover it’s a ruse, not send them into a panic or nurture false excitement. It doesn’t even need to be a full ‘prank’, just offering consumers something comical is a great way to get in the spirit of April 1st.
Less than successful April Fools pranks
Unfortunately, many companies have fallen victim to a sour April Fools gag in the past.
On April 1st 2016, Google added a new button to Gmail as a way for people to ‘have the last word’. This button, known as ‘Mic Drop’, would send an email, automatically attaching an animated GIF of a minion from Despicable Me dropping a microphone. Any email sent using this new feature would not be able to receive replies.
On first impressions, this seems like harmless fun, however, when brought into a corporate environment, things took a less-than-funny turn. The button was actually located right next to the usual send button, meaning it could easily be selected by accident. People claimed to have missed out on job opportunities due to this prank, with others stating they literally lost their jobs due to accidentally triggering this feature.
For April Fools Day in 2018, Elon Musk jokingly declared that Tesla had gone bankrupt, despite the company openly experiencing hard financial times right before this. He tried to keep it comical by tweeting that the electric car manufacturer would be undertaking a “mass sale of Easter eggs” as a “last-ditch effort” to save the company.
It’s safe to say that this wasn’t taken in a light-hearted manner by investors, as the announcement was quickly followed by a 7% drop in Tesla stock.
In more recent years (2022), a subscription-based alcohol company, Bier, executed a poorly considered April Fools prank. It notified a large number of members that they had won a Black Card, which is a prize infrequently offered by the company that entitles the recipient to eight free beers every month for the rest of their life. Since the idea of the Black Card was known to many customers already, it seemed like a legitimate win. That is until you realise the Black Card subscription can be redeemed using the somewhat suspicious code SLOOFLIRPA…
Nevertheless, plenty of members excitedly redeemed this offer online, signing up for their subscription for ‘free beer for life’, only to then be informed that it was actually only a free month, and they’ll be charged £22.95 every month thereafter. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) got involved after numerous complaints were made, deciding that Bier had falsely implied that customers had won a prize, which then incurred a cost to claim, which is against its regulations. ASA issued a formal warning to Bier for these shenanigans.
The true spirit of April Fools Day
Despite a few bad eggs in the history of April 1st, plenty of brands have nailed it when it comes to harmless yet comical April Fools jokes. Here are some of my favourites from this year.
When you think of IKEA, what comes to mind? Is it good quality furniture at a low price? Is it the somewhat-impossible-for-us-Brits-to-pronounce Swedish product names? Or, is it the meatballs? Now I can’t say that I’ve ever had IKEA meatballs, but since they’re put on such a pedestal by many loyal customers, it is on my bucket list to try them. IKEA is well aware that their meatballs are loved by the masses, so much so that IKEA Canada shared a new product range in honour of the beloved grub.
The funny thing is, these would probably be a hit if they really were released!
One of my absolute favourite brands to ever grace the social media scene, language learning app Duolingo, pulled out all the stops for this year’s April Fools festivities. It introduced ‘the world’s first multilingual musical’, with a full promotional trailer and even a link to find tickets for a range of show dates. There’s even a full list of FAQs as though the show has been running for years, although (in true Duolingo style), the answers are somewhat questionable…
If you remember the legal caterpillar battle of Colin vs Cuthbert which was settled back in 2022, you know that Aldi thrives off of producing dupe products, leaving little regard for the companies it’s ripping off. This April Fools was no different, with Aldi Scotland ‘announcing’ a new product: haggis ice cream. And what did they call this product? Well, of course, it was Haggis-Dazs. I can’t say I’d be rushing to try this one…
There you have it. Some truly harmless, yet fairly believable pranks pulled off this year that definitely got consumers talking. I love seeing what brands come up with every April 1st, especially when they’re planned and executed correctly and don’t result in any negative backlash.
Although it’s fun to join in with seasonal events, such as April Fools Day, it’s important to consider whether it’s the best move for your brand. Not participating is much better than pulling off a ‘prank’ that can harm your business.
