There was a time when the only place to get hoodwinked by amazing and amazingly fake commercials was on “Saturday Night Live.” But, with the rise of online social video sharing, April Fools day has become a new showcase for brands to poke a little fun at themselves and win some mindshare.
This year, April Fools day coincided with Easter and several brands released faux ads, products, and announcements that played on aspects of both occasions:
1. Americans spend upwards of $2 billion every Easter just on candy, and chocolate is a perennial favorite, so maybe Burger King’s Chocolate Whopper would actually find some takers… if it was real:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXf2ct7C2fQ&w=1300&h=600&rel=0 ]
2. Going in the opposite direction, Nestlé took a famous chocolate brand and adapted it into a health and beauty product with KitKat Soap, which promises to be the “tastiest clean of your life”:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEe5QW3-mV4&w=1300&h=600&rel=0 ]
3. Nothing says Easter quite like a fluffy pink rabbit, so it was fitting that iconic Easter treats, marshmallow Peeps, announced it was hiring the Energizer Bunny as its new “celebrity creative director”:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT_T3eyKn2k&w=1300&h=600&rel=0 ]
4. Cobranding was a popular theme this year and several unlikely pairings made headlines. Lexus created a short ad describing their ficticious partnership with personal genomics company 23andMe to offer Genetic Select, “the world’s first service that uses human genetics to match you with the car of your genes”:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0Uxzh1E94U&w=1300&h=600&rel=0 ]
5. Likewise, Warby Parker probably knew their fans would quickly realize that other than a slightly similar name there is no real synergy between the eyeglass maker and fast food chain Arby’s. But who’s to say? Maybe people will pick up a roast beef sandwich with their next pair of specs at WArby’s:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k87QXz6t28M&w=1300&h=600&rel=0 ]
6. In a short and funny clip parodying Netflix’s recent spree of acquisitions, comedian Seth Rogen learned the hard way to always read the fine print before signing a contract with the streaming service:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42FRgdjveGU&w=1300&h=600&rel=0 ]
7. On April Fools day 2016, in-home seltzer brand SodaStream enlisted Hafthor Bjornsson, better known as The Mountain from “Game of Thrones,” to promote a phony new product, sparkling water for weightlifters that was dubbed HeavyBubbles™. They brought back the Icelandic strongman this year for SodaSoak, a new technology which purports to bring bubbles not just to your drinking glasses, but to your bathtub as well:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFMUPcuSsJs&w=1300&h=600&rel=0 ]
8. Honda scored over 2.5 million views on YouTube with its fake but funny ad for Sixth Sense, a new app that claims to prevent people with their noses in their smartphones from running into each other that was inspired by the collision avoidance Honda Sensing feature in its cars:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blaL64WbI2s&w=1300&h=600&rel=0 ]
9. Way back in the ancient days of 2002, the T-Mobile Sidekick was one of the hottest cell phones with a full keyboard. In 2018, the mobile company revealed the first smartphone you can wear on your feet, the T-Mobile Sidekicks:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQQuOICUylQ&w=1300&h=600&rel=0 ]
10. It’s hard work crafting up Jäger bombs all night at a busy bar. So Jägermeister recommends bartenders tend to their aches and pains with, what else, Jäger Balm:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfWx2-QkEdI&w=1300&h=600&rel=0 ]
Happy Easter, Passover, and April Fools day to all!