Ronn Torossian With Unforgettable April Fools Marketing Campaigns

Ronn Torossian, the founder of 5WPR says there have been plenty of memorable and funny April Fools campaigns launched by brands over the years, but a handful of them have been truly unforgettable. Some campaigns were successful because they ended up performing better than others, or because everyone was talking about them. Companies can take inspiration for their future April Fools marketing campaigns from one of the examples below.

Taco Bell

Torossian notes that for April fools one year, the popular fast-food brand announced that it managed to purchase the Liberty Bell. Plenty of people in the US actually ended up believing the statement. Suddenly, Taco Bell wasn't just the best place for people to get their tacos or a 3 AM Baja Blast, but also the place that now owned a national monument. The national park service that maintains the Liberty Bell had to hire staff specifically to answer phone calls from upset people around the U.S. In fact, some of the people that called the national park service said they were upset because if they had known that the Liberty Bell was for sale, they would have bought it themselves.

Lyft

Lyft introduced a prank mode feature in its app for April fools one year, which allowed the app's users to create very elaborate pranks. The pranks that people could create involved fake radio stations, newscasts, and actors. One outlet that decided to capitalize on the opportunity of the Lyft prank feature was TMZ, which decided to convince the NBA player Festus Ezeli that he had been removed from his team by playing a fake news report on the radio which informed people that he was being fired from the team.

Google

For April fools, Google decided to add a mic drop feature to its platform one year. This was the company's attempt to improve people's communication on the email platform, Gmail. When a user initiated the mic drop button, they sawa GIF of a small yellow Minion dropping a microphone to signal the end of a conversation. Users could attach this GIF to the emails they wrote. According to reports, this April fools campaign caused some distress with certain users because they accidentally sent the prank emails to clients, bosses, and other people who might not have appreciated the prank.

Tic Tac

The mint brand Tic Tac decided to announce a new product for April fools one year, titled "Tic TacShakeless.” The product used bubble wrap to prevent any of the mints from making noise inside the container, so that consumers wouldn't be pressured to share their Tic Tacs with friends or family. The brand successfully managed to poke fun at the noise of its popular product while relating to its consumers at the same time.

BMW

Back in 2011, the German automaker revealed a brand new sophisticated and sleek pickup truck for April fools. Many consumers were confused by the announcement, as BMW isn't known as a truck maker. Yet the company's campaign was successful because it highlighted its actual products by completely contrasting them with the fake one in the campaign.

Ronn Torossian founded 5WPR, one of the leading PR agencies in the world.

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