Best April Fools’ Campaigns of All Time

We as a nation have a lot on our plates. Stress and anxiety over COVID-19 is high, we’re all worried about our families and business. While we know April Fools’ Day is the last thing on your mind, we do think it’s important to stay positive and laugh about silly things.

Let’s take a look at how these different brands made us giggle in the past.

Our Favourite April Fools’ Campaigns

Morning Brew: Fynance Fest

Morning Brew’s newsletter announced Fynance Fest, a reimagined conference targeted at millennial business leaders.

If you recognised the Fyre Festival comparisons, you probably started your day with a giggle and that was that.  However, if you’re an elite millennial who didn’t know about Fyre Festival (unlikely), then you probably had a day of disappointment after your attempts to sign-up as a VIP failed.

What made this April Fools’ campaign so successful was how fleshed out the prank was. The newsletter contained links to a complete landing page heavy on the visuals and light on actual information (much like the Fyre page).

Their reveal had a payoff, too. Firstly, the brand clearly admitted the joke and provided links to share the prank to social media, increasing brand awareness. Then they provided a link to sign-up for their actual newsletter, increasing subscriptions. Well done, Morning Brew. Well done.

McDonald’s: Milkshake Sauce Pots

If you’ve never dipped your fries into your milkshake, you’re seriously missing out. The saltiness of the chip combines beautifully with the sweetness of the shake, and if you’re eating junk food anyway, you may as well go all the way.

McDonald’s UK capitalised on the junk food trend and brilliantly created a video announcing their new offering: Milkshake Sauce Pots. In the video the launch date – 1 April – was clearly seen, so there was no chance of unhappy customers. Although…

Many fans of the franchise took to Twitter to vent their disappointment that the campaign was a joke. Just get a milkshake, guys!

DigitalMarketer: Who Is Ryan Deiss

DigitalMarketer got weird and announced that Ryan Deiss, their CEO, might not be entirely human – or even exist.

A landing page video delved into who (or what) Deiss is and it made for a hilarious, well-thought out video. When the gag was revealed at the end and users reassured that the CEO is, in fact, perfectly normal, they were prompted to create a free account with the brand.

After becoming so invested in the mystery of Ryan Deiss, how could you not become invested in his brand? Very smooth indeed.

Owl Labs: Meeting Owl Jr.

Owl Labs stole the April Fools spotlight with Owl Jr, next generation conferencing technology for the next generation of employee.

The landing page was fully kitted out, with a video, feature set, testimonials from their (very) young users, and a 100% discount on the order page.

Those who filled out the form actually received a limited-edition stuffed owl toy. Talk about attention to detail.

Think Geek: Where’s Barb

Fans of Stranger Things were disappointed to learn that Think Geek’s latest product Where’s Barb was nothing but an April Fools’ Day prank.

Inspired by Where’s Wally (or Waldo, if you’re American), the aim was to find Barbara Holland amongst the visual mishmash on each page. Or it would be, if the book was real.

The jig was up when fans tried to add the product to cart, as a pop-up revealed the joke and instead redirected them to other products.

We hope some of these brilliantly executed April Fools’ campaigns cheer you up!