Believe it or not, April Fools Day isn’t just for joking around between friends. We all know the frequent April Fools Day pranks that come up year-after-year. These, of course, include pretending you’re engaged, putting tin foil, saran wrap or post-its all over your coworker’s things, “kick me” signs or the good old fashioned prank phone calls. Brands like to join in on the fun too and create pranks for the world to believe.
As marketers, we like to think of ourselves as fun and creative. Don’t get me wrong, marketing is serious business. Our efforts have the power to increase brand revenue or impact your organization as a whole. But, we enjoy promoting our products or services in the most fun way possible. That’s why April Fools Day is the perfect holiday for us to jump on board with.
To gain inspiration for your brand’s pranks this April Fools Day, here are a few of my all-time favorite April Fools Day pranks from brands:
Hamburger Helper
Hamburger Helper joined the April Fools Day fun by releasing an entire rap album titled, WATCH THE STOVE. They even created a SoundCloud account that features a few Hamburger Helper-related rap songs that included titles like, Food For Your Soul, Feed The Streets or In Love With The Glove.
Blue Moon
In 2015, Blue Moon tried to convince their followers that they invented the first beer infused oranges. I mean, how great would that be?
National Geographic
Last year, National Geographic’s prank was them making a statement that it will no longer degrade animals by showing photos of them without clothes. This website page still lives on to provide well-dressed pictures of dogs and cats.
Planet Fitness
For those who dread working out and would rather watch a good movie (looks at you!), this product would be great if it was actually real. In 2015, Planet Fitness pranked their followers that they were releasing The Reclinomax, a recliner with exercise features. While some were interested in this offering, it was unfortunately just a hoax.
Learn how to track the success and impact of these April Fools Day pranks. Download our guide, Social Listening, Social Intelligence…So What? to learn top campaign management tactics.
