April 1st. A date where big brands get to push the button on an idea so ridiculously outlandish but still within the realms of possibility. It’s a creative marketers dream but one that could quickly turn into a nightmare if not timed and executed to perfection.
Here are some tigerbond tips to help land the perfect punchline. Anyone for a ride on an aerial gondola?
Watch-Outs
It helps if your April Fools story stays true to the brand where possible. Don’t offend or get personal and jokes involving political, religious, gender or societal issues are off-limits. Nobody wants a big flop on their hands, or have to call on their fellow crisis comms expert to fix an avoidable car crash.
Getting It Right
Strike the right balance of being unexpected, bold and a bit bonkers but veer just on the right side of being believable. It also helps to bring your desired media outlet in on the joke – you don’t want to fool or upset the masters!
Five of the Best
Taking all this into account, what can we learn from April Fools’ japes of the past? Here are a few from the archives that deserve to be admired – and one to avoid at all costs!
DuoLingo Does Toilet Humour
Duolingo’s clever social team built out an idea rooted in insight so it had a whiff of believability about it.
They discovered that people were turning their bathrooms into a classroom, learning and practising new languages while on the toilet. Step forward a language learning bog roll range, available in five languages.
Genius!
Tip: Stretch a truth to the max.
Smart Move Lego
Hands up who has let out an expletive in front of the kids after treading on a piece of Lego with bare feet? Guilty as charged.
Step forward SmartBricks, a concept that sees these torture-inducing bricks automatically slide away from you as you walk by, leaving a brick-less path.
Tip: Resonate with your target audience.
Is it a Bird? Is it a Plane?
One from the master, Sir Richard Branson. He always sticks to the rules of the game, raising a smile while remaining on-brand.
His airline's parody was inspired by his childhood dream of flying like a bird. Off went his clever scientists to devise new flight technology wittingly coined ‘flap energy’.
The video content featuring flapping airplane wings really brought this joyous story to life. We knew it couldn’t be real, but we wanted to believe it – and it made us feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Tip: Stay true to your warm, likeable brand values.
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Love it or Hate it? A Brand Mash-Up
Marmite has always divided the nation and they pushed this to the max in 2009, partnering with Vaseline to launch a marmite flavoured lip balm.
Bonkers? Totally.
Revolting? Well, that is a question that puts you either in a ‘love it’ or ‘hate it’ camp and that is a whole other debate!
Tip: Double up your efforts with an unexpected brand partner
Volkswagen 'Voltswagen' Car Crash
We all love a bit of wordplay but this backfired big time.
Somebody in the comms team made the wrong call to issue a story about VW rebranding to Voltswagen to promote a new electric car a few days before April 1. Out it went, media sought clarification that the story was true and the PR team lied stating it was fact.
End result? Lots of irked media around the globe and more people distrusting the brand.
Tip: Get the timing right. And don’t upset the press!
