April Fools’ Day has become one of the marketing industry’s most active and annoyingly odd days of the year. And while the whole thing can be exhausting, there are always a few clever ideas worthy of at least a chuckle.
Check out our (definitely not 100 percent comprehensive) roundup of some of this year’s better branded stunts below. We’ll be updating this list throughout the day:
Google Netherlands Finally Lets You Talk to Your Tulips
We all know Google Translate is a powerful and useful tool, but clearly the service is only scratching the surface of its potential by translating human language. Now, thanks to Google Netherlands, the Google Tulip app will help you talk to your favorite flower and also learn more about its wants and needs:
As any sci-fi lover can attest, communication is a slippery slope. One minute your plant is haranguing you for more water. The next, it’s becoming self-aware and questioning its place in the universe. But mostly it still wants water.
McDonald’s Creates Shake Sauce for the Advanced Dipper
Dipping fries in a milkshake isn’t just acceptable. It’s downright required. If you have both on hand, it’s just common sense they need to be experienced together.
But now McDonald’s and agency We Are Unlimited have taken the dipping-in-shakes fascination to a new level by creating Shake Sauce. It’s an April Fools’ project, to be sure, but the brand is arguing it’s real and available everywhere in 12-ounce servings—in other words, as a shake.
SodaStream and Astronaut Scott Kelly Turn Burps Into Beverages
The SodaStream system is a nice way to make your own carbonated drinks rather than buying a bunch of disposable bottles, but haven’t you always wished you could create fizzy drinks on the go while also putting your belches to good use? No? Well too bad, because the brand has brainstormed a solution anyway.
SodaStream, a perennial April Fools’ participant, this year partnered with astronaut Scott Kelly to promote a portable device that promises to turn your excess gas (from your upper half, thankfully) into sparkling water. Is it believable? Not at all. But the brand still put an impressive amount of time and energy into everything from the video production to the product design:
“We treated this as if we had the kind of technology to make this happen, this would be the way it was designed,” SodaStream CMO Matti Yahav tells Adweek. “We have a very serious environmental message, and we always try to find funny and entertaining ways to convey that message. We think April Fools’ is a perfect time to do that.”
Google Maps Lets You Play Snake in Iconic Cities
Now might be a good time to check if your Google Maps app has a new function. Namely you might want to look for “Play Snake.” The feature lets you play a version of the classic directional game Snake, but this time your serpent is a train or other form of mass transit moving its way through major cities and getting bonus points for reaching landmarks.
Always Be Prepared With These Swiss Army Glasses
Who needs form when you can have this much function? Victorinox Swiss Army and GlassesUSA.com have partnered to launch this hilariously useful Survival Rx Glasses, “created on the values both companies share.”
The brands say research has shown 76 percent of eyeglass buyers want pairs that are trendy and feature practical or high-tech features. And clearly you can’t get more feature-rich than a Swiss Army Knife combined with stylish eyewear.
Burger King Fiendishly Unveils a Real Meatless Whopper on April 1
On a day when everyone is primed to be dubious, Burger King is using skepticism to its advantage. The brand is intentionally debuting its meatless Impossible Whopper, created in partnership with the popular plant-based startup Impossible Foods, on April Fools’ Day as a way to get people talking.
While the Impossible Whopper is only available for a limited time and in the limited geography of a few dozen St. Louis Burger King locations, the burger is (according to brand spokespeople) truly real. You can read more in our full article on the Impossible Burger.
Three Olives Vodka Rebrands NYC’s Roosevelt Island as ‘Rosévelt Island’
Sure, Roosevelt Island is a nice and scenic spot right in the middle of New York’s East River, but “home of the Smallpox Hospital ruins” just doesn’t have that millennial zing that modern tourism really strives for. So alcoholic beverage brand Three Olives Vodka says it has worked with the city to rebrand Roosevelt Island as Rosévelt Island, where everything is rosy and the pink wine flows freely.
In case you’re wondering why a vodka brand would go all in on a wine pun, it likely has something to do with the company’s Three Olives Rosé Vodka Spritz.
Auntie Anne’s Turns All Stores Into (Very) Hot Yoga Studios
It seems like just about every brick-and-mortar chain is attempting a dramatic pivot these days, but Auntie Anne’s may have them all beat. Just in time for April Fools’, the pretzel chain has announced that it’s converting all its 1,500-plus store locations into hot yoga studios.
And Auntie Anne isn’t fooling around when she says hot. The brand promises to crank the heat up at each location to a sweat-inducing and life-ending 625 degrees to match the temperature of its ovens. Once you’re softened up by the literally murderous heat and the “heavenly scent” aromatherapy of fresh bagels being piped into the studio, you’ll be rolled and contorted by certified instructors using the same techniques they use to shape bagels.
How Instagrammable!
If you’re into the pretzels and the yoga but not so much the dying and being twisted into some sort of Clive Barker book cover, you can at least order from the chain’s (actually real) apparel store.
Build-a-Bear Assembles a Dating App: Build-a-Bae
If the pitch behind this stunt is to be believed, Build-a-Bear Workshop customers “have often remarked on how they wished finding the perfect match was as easy as building a bear.” (This seems unlikely, but there’s a certain sadly believable mental image here of a parent marching through the assembly process and dreaming of a better life.)
So the toy-customization retail brand is celebrating April Fools’ with a dating app called Build-a-Bae. While details (however fictional) are sparse in the video below, we hope there’s a bit less stuffing and body modification involved.
Frank’s RedHot Also Has a Dating App: Meet With Heat
You didn’t really think only one brand would go the dating app route for April Fools’, did you? Indeed not. Sauce brand Frank’s RedHot is promoting its own tool for finding a spicy romance. The Meet With Heat app supposedly lets you rank the “hotness” of other singles based on their propensity for peppery condiments:
The fake app mockup was created by McCormick’s internal creative team.
Popchips Debuts Single Servings in ‘Just the Chip’ Packaging
It always pays to be prepared when a craving arises, so Popchips has created single-serving ‘Just the Chip’ condom-esque packages, promising seductive flavor combinations that are “ridged for your pleasure.”
Promising safe snacking on the go, the April Fools’ stunt was created by the pressure-popped snack brand with agency Third Street Media Group.
PlusOne Drops Vibrator Vending Machines Across the U.S.
For ladies who want sexual fulfillment but hate having to stray too far from their daily commute, plusOne is offering vibrator vending machines in convenient locations nationwide. Well, actually the sexual wellness brand isn’t doing that, but the stunt is meant to raise awareness to the fact that its products are sold in Walmart or Target locations.
Retro Your Ride With the ’90s-Inspired Honda Pastport
Grab your tape deck adapter and kiss backup cameras goodbye, because Honda is returning to the 1990s with its faux trim package, The Pastport, for the 2019 Honda Passport. Riding a (real) recent wave of ’90s nostalgia, the brand put together a fictional throwback model where the only button you’ll find on the steering wheel is the horn:
The spot by longtime Honda agency RPA is voiced by Fred Savage, who you’ll also hear if you call the 1-833-PASTPORT hotline, where you can leave a message about why you want to revisit the ’90s via your daily drive.
Hampton Offers Waffle-Infused Shampoo and Syrup Conditioner
If your favorite part of staying in a hotel is the DIY waffle station, then you’re going to love this breakfast-themed shampoo and conditioner combo from Hampton by Hilton. For April Fools’, the hotel chain is claiming to have combined its complimentary hair care products with its popular waffles to create a showering experience that leaves your head in a cloud of batter-and-syrup aroma:
The Hampton prank was created by the brand’s creative agency, GSD&M.
Recycle Your Jägermeister With This Jägerbong Kit
If you’ve got too many Jägermeister empties sitting around the house…well, maybe it’s time to take stock of your life choices. Or, hell, you can just convert one of them into a bong and leave all that self-awareness for another day.
This dubious DIY kit—which allegedly comes with a bong carb, a hacky sack, eye drops, a lighter and grinder—reaches us via agency M Booth.
Greenpeace U.K. Puts Sainsbury’s in Its Prank Crosshairs
Organizations usually use April Fools’ Day to mock themselves, but Greenpeace U.K. is using its satirical skills to mock British grocer Sainsbury’s. The environmental group made a video about the chain’s single-use plastics policy—dubbed by Greenpeace as, “We couldn’t care less.”
Rideshare App Via Rolls Out Tandem Bike Sharing
For those who’ve always wanted to blend the affordability of UberPool with the environmental benefits of bicycles, ridesharing service Via has a perfect solution: ViaTandem.
Users can book a spot on a three-seat tandem bicycle with this tool, though obviously the front seat comes with the most responsibility. Here are the rules of ViaTandem sent out to email subscribers this morning:
• Seating arrangements are determined by the older rider.
• The rider in the front seat is responsible for steering and braking.
• The rider in the back seat should offer verbal encouragement to their partner, i.e. “Great job up there!” or “That’s the ticket!”
• The rider in the back should periodically remind the rider in the front that they haven’t fallen off the ViaTandem.
White Castle Will Auction Its First Slider, Frozen Since 1921
Always thinking ahead, the innovators behind White Castle apparently thought to carbon freeze their first slider mere moments after grilling it up in 1921. Today the chain is auctioning it off:
Why not wait two more years and auction it during the 100th anniversary? Oh wait, maybe because it’s blatantly untrue. As the brand’s landing page from the tweet notes, the original was eaten within 30 seconds of being made.
