April 2, 2013
Brands are constantly trying to find a personal connection with their customers.
Social media is a platform where they are able to talk to them more directly. With more and more companies speaking to their customers in conversational tones, and using humour to engage with their fan base, April Fools day is a great way for a brand to show their human side.
Here’s a look at some of the best April Fool’s Jokes that brands have played this year.
The 8 Best April Fools Pranks
1) Virgin Atlantic’s Glass-bottom airplanes: Virgin Atlantic took to its blog and Twitter to fool its customers by stating that they had engineered a glass-bottom airplane.
2) Ikea’s Self-assembling lawnmower: Ikea had fun with their Facebook users as introduced a flat pack lawnmower set, offering “a compact, lightweight and foldable alternative” to their green fingered customers.
3) YouTube’s alleged shut down: YouTube fooled gullible users into believing that it was shutting down at midnight so that it’s 30,000 technicians crawl the site in search of the world’s best video. The site wouldn’t re-launch until 2023, and only the winning video would appear on the site
4) The Bathstore’s vertical bathtub: The Bathstore created a viral gem when they posted an ad for the world’s first vertical bathtub.
5) Twitter’s by a vowel scheme: Twitter caused a hoot when they unveiled their April Fool’s joke. Their prank was an announcement of a 2 tiered Twitter service in which users who wish to use vowels had to purchase them.
blog.twitter.com/2013/03/annncn… #nvwls discover.twitter.com/twttr/
6) Google’s treasure maps: Google played two pranks on users today, the announced a Google Nose search feature but it was their Google treasure hunt maps feature that caught on a viral prank.
7) Proctor and Gamble’s Bacon mouthwash: The Company released this far-fetched but amusing prank for a bacon flavoured mouthwash that “Kills 99.9% of bad breath germs with 100% bacon taste,” the ad claims.
8) Honda’s Haircuts: Honda showed their sense of humour by announcing that they had added HondaHAIR to the 2014 Honda Odyssey that allows for in-vehicle haircuts.