It’s crazy to think that April is just two days away. Unfortunately this year April Fools’ Day lands on a Sunday, so the pranks will have to wait for another day here at the Fish office. With that, thought it would be fun to remember some of the April Fools’ stunts that companies have launched in years past.
*Disclaimer: none of the below were real initiatives.
- Last year Amazon released a video promoting it’s newest product – the Petlexa. If you haven’t seen the commercial, check it out here. I mean – what dog doesn’t need a bark-automated ball thrower? While the main purpose of the Petlexa was to get some laughs, I can’t help but think the recent random outbursts of the Alexa laughing could just be a delayed response from all the buzz that their 2017 April Fools’ prank generated? I’m definitely guilty of laughing at my own jokes, so maybe Alexa is too!
- This next one I kind of wish was the real-deal. Honda created a Honda Horn Emoji feature that changes the tone of a honk based on your emotions. While potentially dangerous for those who suffer from road rage – maybe the drivers of Fort Lauderdale would benefit from the added feature.
- Yesterday was opening day for many baseball teams across the United States. For all the baseball fans out there – last year the Chicago Cubs completely faked their first game of the season on Twitter, leaving fans across the nation distraught and confused. Nearly 700 people retweeted their post – hopefully no one showed up at the stadium.
- One year The Knot – a marriage planning website that I am way too familiar – pranked couples by alerting them that their database was compromised and 500,000 wedding checklists were deleted on the site. Couples had to login to see if they were affected and then found out it was a joke and scored some free offers. As someone who’s helping a few of my friends currently plan their wedding – this one is just mean!
- Lastly, wanted to shed some light on food brands that have pretended to launch the most bizarre menu items in order to garner some brand attention. While some of these are a little out there, have to appreciate the creativity.
- Burger King released flame-grilled Whopper toothpaste (ok, ew!)
- McDonald’s “invented” the Micro Mac.
- Hurricane Grill & Wings introduced blue wings – blazin’ blue raspberry
- Papa John’s joked that they were offering Garlic Gallon’s for $9.99
With all of the holidays that companies capitalize on throughout the year – April Fools’ Day has always been one of my favorites. These hoaxes definitely lighten the mood when comparing to the daily news headlines, and it’s a tradition I hope companies continue to build on each year. Let’s just say I have high expectations for 2018!
