Posted by
Sydney Wright on
Apr 1, 2020
Top 10 Corporate April Fools’ Day Pranks
Take a look at the best April Fools’ Day pranks in the corporate world!
In a world where corporate America is ruled by data and strategy, there’s one day a year that turns business into funny business – April Fools’ Day! See how companies use this holiday to their advantage, bringing awareness to their company, encouraging positive behavior, reaffirming their brand identity… and hey, maybe even go viral.
Updated on April 6th, 2021
With the recent pandemic, companies all over the world have embraced the lighthearted humor of April Fools’ Day. We’ve now updated this blog to include the best cooperate April Fools’ Day pranks of 2021
Home Offices by The Anderson Group
This year, we were lucky enough to be able to create an April Fools’ prank for our client, The Anderson Group, a commercial real estate company out of Albany, NY.
As many have transitioned to working at home this year, we showcased through this campaign that there’s truly nothing like being back in an Anderson Office Space.
Learn more about how we created this prank!
Custom Sneakers by Natural Light
With the recent controversy surrounding Lil Naz X’s “Satan Shoes” blocked by Nike, Natural Light decided to get in on the drama by pulling an April Fools joke that they were dropping similar shoes with Natural Light on the soles (a spin-off of Lil Naz X’s shoes which had human blood on the soles)
While Natural Light is known for their daring social persona on Twitter, their April fools’ Day prank this year seems to have pushed the envelope a little too far as it’s since been deleted off their Twitter account. While this relevant prank caught my eye, it’s important to consider the controversy that could go along with your April Fools’ Day post.
V by Velveeta
Cheese – but for your face. As social media mavens on Tik Tok and Instagram are constantly dishing out their tips and tricks for the perfect beauty routine, Velveeta pretended to put their hat in the ring by creating their own skincare line made with their cheese.
Timely…but luckily just a prank.
SmartBricks by Lego
With families at home from work and school due to the pandemic, kids have inevitably taken over households with their toys. Lego, however, has come up with a solution. SmartBricks are the simple solution to those pesky Lego pieces that seem to always be stepped on… well, at least we can dream.
BMW – No Turn Signals
In a world that values minimalization, BMW tricked their audiences into believing they had taken away a “useless” function of their vehicles – turn signals.
In this clever video commercial, the auto company was able highlight their initiative to minimize their carbon footprint by taking away unneeded car parts that waste raw materials, yet doing it in a self-mocking fashion.
She Shed by Life Storage Inc.
Do you ever feel like moms have been missing their version of a man cave (no, the kitchen does not count) away from home? That’s why Life Storage Inc. came up with the “She Shed”, a fully furnished storage unit with all the comforts of home – without the kids and husband. Just kidding! This April Fools’ prank was a brilliant way to capture attention and bring brand recognition to their company. In order to bring their vision to life, they created a well-produced video along with an aesthetically pleasing webpage that aligned with the company’s brand guide to trick their web visitors. They ultimately admitted the truth behind the concept when any buttons were clicked on the page.
As this prank resonated with women all over the country, it saw a large trend on social media, bringing this Buffalo, NY business to the national stage.
Soda Stream’s “Nano Drop”
Nano Drop by Soda Stream was by far the most elaborate prank we’ve seen so far. With extremely well planned content, Soda Stream used Influencer marketing (Paris Hilton endorsed the message leading up to April Fools’ day and starred in the announcement video), a facebook page, and custom website to bring this prank to the main stage. Although this prank may seem a bit extravagant, it was a great way to highlights the company’s incentive to minimize plastic waste along with bring major attention to their brand.
Height Verification by Tinder
Nervous his 6’2” is more like 5’9”? Don’t worry, Tinder is now adding “height verification” to their platform. April fools! While this feature was hacked up to a holiday gag, it was a clever way to encourage honesty on the app.
However, it’s always important to consider every audience while working in marketing. According to the Daily Dot, not everyone found this joke amusing. Many men across social media platforms accused Tinder of “height shaming”, proving the pitfalls of engaging a controversial prank.
Author Delivery Service by Amazon
Although a little too “out there” to truly fool anyone, Amazon’s “Author Delivery” video played lightheartedly to the idea that Amazon can deliver anything you can imagine in a small window of time. This new feature brings not only your favorite books to your door, but also the author that wrote them almost instantly. While this prank may seem a tad weak on tricking viewers, it was a great way to avoid any negative misconceptions about the company (remember Elon Musk’s prank announcement that Tesla had gone bankrupt, causing their shares to drop by 5%? Yeah, avoid that.), while still highlighting what they’re great at – providing the world with what they want in a short amount of time.
Taco Bell buys The Liberty Bell
And how could anyone forget about when Taco Bell convinced America that they purchased the Liberty Bell in 1996? In a land before social media, Taco Bell printed the news in the form of full page spreads in seven major newspapers, claiming that they had purchased and renamed The Liberty Bell to “The Taco Liberty Bell.”
According to the Philly Voice, this prank proved to be a major success for Taco Bell. While the ads cost $300,000 to distribute, their sales increased by double that number by April 2nd, and the company ultimately claims that they made nearly $25 million from the advertisements.
Is your business looking to create their own April Fools’ Day prank? We can help! Contact us today to learn how we can collaborate together on your next social campaign!