There’s always space for a little bit of poking fun and pushing the limits, especially with April Fool’s Day being a thing, and even more so when you come up with an incredibly original idea that will engage your audience, captivate their attention and increase your brand awareness.
Taking advantage of any sort of occasion to add some spice to your brand’s social media presence and drive traffic to your accounts, is pretty much in the makeup of digital marketing. Whether it’s a grand celebration or irrelevant instances, there’s always a way to insert your brand into the digital narrative.
We’ve gathered an exceptional list of brands who went out of their way to put the ‘fool’ in April’s Fool for 2023 with amazing gags and pranks.
Mod Pizza’s Pocket Pie Parka
Mod Pizza pranked its audience with a rather ridiculous gag by inserting itself into the fashion game and promising to make you look like a snack with a parka that has a pie-sized pocket for when you are on-the-go. The brand took it a step further with their ingenious idea and introduced the gag as early as the 14th of March, which is the official Pi Day. Clever, right? Consumers were intrigued to enter a competition for a chance to win the parka through Mod’s Instagram and TikTok accounts.
Hop Wtr’s Mlf Wtr
Hop Wtr, an alcohol and calorie-free beverage brand, introduced a play on words with their gag product ad, Mlf Wtr, which referred to ‘thirsty moms everywhere’. Although the acronym ‘Mlf’ referred to their ‘Mango Lime-Flavoured’ sparkling water, it was enough to grab the attention of their followers. The brand took it even further with a carousel post on Instagram and a release that mentioned the ‘steaming hot mom-ents’ that the beverage can induce. This creative stunt was smart, simple and perfectly executed, and intriguing enough to promote their products in a way that will remain memorable to their audience.
Subaru’s Forager Granola
Granola is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of cars, right? Yet, somehow, Subaru managed to align the two by poking innocent fun at its audience. The concept behind the gag of a car brand launching a granola flavour, was the general opinion that Subaru drivers have the tendency to be ‘crunchy’, which is defined as someone who adjusts their lifestyle for environmental reasons. Subaru sent out a press release announcing this new endeavour with an incredibly smart copy that referred to ‘100& recycled good vibes’ and ‘love and organic compost’ as part of the ingredients.
Askon Finlayson’s North Swimwear
Askon Finlayson is a climate-positive outdoor clothing company, renowned for its winter apparel that suddenly came up with a whole new swimwear launch. A rather unexpected turn for the brand, making hot the new cold and enticing their audience with a product that we are sure many probably hoped was real, so all their polar plunges can feel like a jacuzzi!
OnlyFans’ NSFW Hot Sauce
OnlyFans turned up the heat once again with its April Fool’s launch of an NSFW hot sauce, but this time it was no joke. The brand directed users to its merchandise store where they could purchase the habanero-flavoured hot sauce, adding to its unorthodox cooking campaigns, as it has previously launched a series of cooking shows called ‘This is fire’. The brand surely knows how to keep its content spicy and stay true to its branding.
Tinder’s No Fish Pic Ban
The photos chosen for one's Tinder profile can be instrumental. That’s why many people tend to use photos of themselves doing impressive activities, and one common theme seems to be that of fishing and people posting photos of themselves holding large fish they caught. Therefore, Tinder sent out a fake press release ‘oh-fish-ally’ announcing the ban of such photos, presenting it as a serious matter that must be addressed.
La Vie’s Meat Launch
La Vie, a plant-based brand, fooled its audience by announcing its venture into the meat market, with a bacon product called ‘La Mort’ made from real-life pigs. The brand relied on the shock factor and its inventively on-point copy, which read as ‘100% dead animals, not good for you, not good for Earth’ on the fake packaging.
Westside’s L’Humor
A Santa Monica-based improv and standup comedy club, known as Mi’s Westside Comedy Theater, took advantage of April Fool’s along with its 14th anniversary to announce a gag launch of its new product, a signature fragrance with the name ‘L’Humor’, along with the tagline ‘Something smells funny in here’. Once again, a rather simple idea, along with great copy and execution that brought great awareness to the brand.
Sneak Energy’s Eye Drops
Sneak Energy, an energy drink brand that is rather popular with gamers, who tend to stay up late with their gaming, jokingly launched its own eye drops to help them out during the ungodly, past-midnight hours. A great example of Sneak Energy being fully aware and aligned with its target audience, and utilising that to produce a specifically-branded gag that would speak to their needs, as well as their sense of humour.
Duolingo & Peacock’s ‘Love Language’ Show
A streaming service and a language learning app teaming up to launch a new dating show? Also, none of the contestants speak the same language and have to use Duolingo to communicate with one another? Talk about a built-up gag. And not only that, the spot featured one of the most well-known dating show celebrities of recent years. The collaboration was a recipe for success, implementing great marketing elements that surely caught the consumers’ attention.
Chuck E. Cheese's Wedding Package
Chuck E. Cheese is famously where children go to have a blast and as advertised throughout the years, it’s a place where ‘a kid can be a kid’. In an unexpected twist though, the brand introduced their ‘wedding package’, a stunt where the popular mouse mascot would officiate weddings and make your most memorable day a whole lotta cheesy. Rather cheeky and a gag that surely brought on a lot of laughs.
And of course, we couldn't leave behind some of our own April Fool's gags!
WTF by Kean (2023)
Revenge is a dish best served cold, especially when that includes everyone’s most hated brussel sprouts. Our own branded WTF (Where’s The Food) by KEAN, played on the concept of revenging whoever pranked the audience the year before, by including an enticing visual with lollipop-wrapped brussel sprouts to send to your ‘loved’ ones. A vibrant, popping visual and a catchy, snarky caption and WTF became part of April Fool’s legacy.
SHARK Energy’s NFTs (2022)
At the height of NFTs and with an appetite for playing around, SHARK Energy was the perfect brand to take on such a relevant gag, by announcing its fake launch into the trading world with 3 limited edition NFTs. Current, funny and one that could honestly be easily believed!
The conclusion? Never miss out on any given opportunity to embark on a creative journey and entice your audience with intriguing and captivating content that with raise your brand awareness and leave them talking!
Source: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2023/03/31/top-2023-april-fools-day-brand-stunts-and-gags-tinder-subaru