Did you play a joke on someone today? Whether you’re the type of person to play April Fool’s pranks or not, one thing is certain: brands love a good practical joke! And why not? They can be funny, often creative, and help show the more human and fun-loving side of brands that can otherwise seem very serious… all business and no play. Also, if done right, a good bit of April Fool’s Day marketing can cause more of a stir than standard marketing campaigns, bringing wider awareness and more customers with it.
So while you’re inspecting every seat for whoopee cushions, or checking that no one has swapped the sugar with the salt when making your cup of tea today, we’re bringing you 4 brand-led April Fool’s jokes that made us laugh, and showed great marketing initiative.
It’s a Pimm’s time of year now, and it was Pimm’s o’clock on 1st April 2016, when the oddly cucumber-obsessed drinks company announced its sponsorship of London’s iconic clock tower. It was accompanied by an all-too-real looking on-the-ground video report from news broadcaster Peter Sissons, showing Big Ben emblazoned with Pimms’ red logo, in which he spoke of “outrage in the Houses of Commons [and] turmoil on Twitter” (all part of the joke, or course).
By choosing Big Ben as the subject of their prank, Pimm’s played into local pride in a famous historic landmark, which made it all the more impactful.
For what honestly seems like centuries, Jamie Oliver has been teaching us the joys of cooking, with the uplifting message that it can be quick, easy and for everyone. After the success of his 2017 book “5 Ingredients”, Jamie took it 1 (or perhaps 4) steps further when, on 1st April 2018, he announced his latest tome, “1 Ingredients”. Simple cooking taken to its logical conclusion, in the promo video Jamie marvels over such simple dishes as “toast”, “an egg” and even “water” (which you can just pop in the freezer for later if you don’t finish it all).
This spoof worked well as a marketing campaign by showing Jamie Oliver with a sense of humour about himself, mocking the behaviour and ideas he is known for, and because it respected the intelligence of the audience, by keeping them in on the joke.
Do you have trouble reaching the produce on the top shelves in supermarkets? So much so, that you simply ignore them, and never add them to your basket? Well, in 2015, Tesco provided a solution so simple that it’s amazing no one else had ever thought of it: bouncy aisles! By installing trampoline covers along their aisles, now all customers needed to do to grab out-of-reach treats is take a healthy bounce on the floor, grab their desired item - for instance dog food, or toilet duck - in mid air, and return to the ground with it safely in your hands. Easy peasy!
While the Pimm’s and Jamie Oliver jokes were semi-plausible, at least for the first few moments, Tesco went with an idea that everyone could instantly see was a joke. But it was funny enough to get them published in numerous national newspapers, and allowed for some
In the run up to the Royal Albert Hall’s 150th anniversary in 2021, they have been digging underneath the venue to enlarge the basement and create more space for musicians, staff and audience facilities. This project has been dubbed “The Great Excavation”. On 1 April 2018, they announced the discovery of a time capsule, thought to have been buried by Queen Victoria herself when the foundations were laid down in 1867. The contents included an old penny, a jar of Bovril, the world’s first meme, an apparent prophesy of Brexit and, most amazingly of all, a VHS cassette of Dire Straits hits.
The Royal Albert Hall cleverly used this stunt to increase awareness of something which would otherwise be fairly difficult to get a lot of people interested in: building works. It would have been hard to raise interest in something mundane like this without going the April Fool’s route.
All these brands and individuals have regular year-round marketing strategies that they use to keep themselves in the minds of existing and future customers. For April Fools Day though, they have permission to try something silly, controversial or satirical instead. While it can be a lot of fun, it does achieve the same results. These campaigns get people sharing and commenting on social media, get the local press writing about them, or even receive TV coverage - all forms of promotion that keep their brand awareness high.
For more ideas on how to raise your business’s brand awareness, check out the blogs linked below.
