Don’t Get Fooled by These April Fools’ Day Stunts From Brands and Agencies

Nobody likes being called a fool, but plenty of people like a good April Fools’ Day joke. It’s the one day a year when pranks are not only welcome, but expected from brands, businesses and agencies alike.

Since it lands on a Saturday this year, Adweek is highlighting some of the better fools from agencies and brands and others trying to pull one over on the public.

No more Tinder fish pics

Why the heck do people post pics with fish they’ve caught on dating apps? Whatever the reason, Tinder is sick of it. The app is saying enough is enough to “Fish Pics,” moderating profiles to o-fish-ally remove everyone’s least favorite type of photo, once and for all. Effective April 1, Tinder will start removing all photos of members holding sea creatures big and small, making Tinder the first dating app to go “fish free,” because let’s face it—no one looks good holding a slimy fish.

Subaru speaks to its granola fan base

Subaru is known for its love of the outdoors and a fan base that includes plenty of hikers, bikers and other folks who might be considered “granola types.” Subaru of America plays to its “More Than a Car Company” tag with a snack designed to be as crunchy as its customers: Subaru Forager Granola. The granola is billed as the closest thing you’ll find to eating compost for breakfast, to power you through life’s crunchiest pursuits. “Forager can power even the busiest days, whether you’re scouting out trees to hug, talking to plants or searching for a spot for your latest bumper sticker,” stated the brand. 

AI creative director ‘Craig’

Agency Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners (BSSP) is poking fun at industry qualms around artificial intelligence with a new AI creative director named Craig (an acronym for Creative Relational Advertising Idea Generator). In a film, Craig starts to exhibit the telltale characteristics of certain creative directors—responding with vague and obscure feedback, and being “too busy” to be bothered by a trivial task such as timesheets. The film was shot and edited by the folks at Cleaver, starring BSSP team members including founding partner and co-chairman John Butler himself and CEO Tracey Pattani. 

Ranch-flavored fruit snacks

Ranch dressing is having a moment, with ranch-flavored everything on the market. Now, add fruit snacks to the mix. Inspired by Welch’s Juicefuls, Ranchfuls are a new kind of saucy ranch snack exploding with disgustingly zesty flavor, made using buttermilk. 

Life and death

Plant-based food brands have a somewhat well-deserved reputation for being serious and self-important, so it’s heartening when one lightens up for the trickfest that is April 1. U.K.-based La Vie manages to combine a fake product with a familiar “meat is murder” message. The company, which makes popular vegan bacon that’s available at grocery stores and Burger King restaurants across the pond, announces a sub-brand called La Mort that’s just, well, meat. In a short video laced with deadpan humor, CEO Nicolas Schweitzer says the move will “destroy the world—I mean, the competition.” Caution: Blood spatter is involved, though no animals were harmed in the making of this prank.

Polishing a turd

From its earliest days, PooPourri has leaned into scatological humor, for obvious reasons and with great success. See: Bethany the potty-mouthed advertising icon. For its April 1 stunt, the brand is releasing a line of nail polishes called Poolish inspired by nature’s call “that helps you find your poofect shade to go with any (food) mood.” The five sh*tty shades are Download a Brownload, Just Beet It, Smooth Move, (Too Much) Iron Man and Kernel Mustard. “You’ll recognize these oh-so-familiar shades you know all too intimately,” the brand says with its characteristic wink.

Refreshingly fruity

There’s a never-ending quest to get milk, or “milk,” from non-dairy sources these days, with nuts and grains and even potatoes joining the party. But there’s a new player on the scene, courtesy of Hendrick’s Gin: cucumber milk. “From breakfast to dessert, and yes, even cocktails, this marvelous milk invention promises to level up your favorite drink or dish with some light taste of our favorite cylindrical fruit,” per the brand, which provided recipes for such gustatory delights as cucumber milk punch, cucumber milk and matcha latte, and cucumber-mango overnight oats. Drink up!

Sniffing out the BS

There are times when brands respond to consumer demand, turning silly faux products launched on April 1 into real ones available for sale. Fingers crossed here that air quality monitoring company Airthings will in fact release a device called the Airthings Bullshit Detector. This state-of-the-art sensor tech is “capable of discerning all varieties and strains of BS, from white lies to malicious infidelity,” per the brand. Yes, please.

Lost in translation

Ten sexy singles are living under the same roof, somewhere “in paradise,” where they while away the hours in skimpy clothing, taking dips in the pool, drinking high-ABV cocktails and… communicating with each other? Of course not, because this is a reality show and no one wants to hear these contestants talk. In fact, the smoking hot participants from all parts of the globe don’t speak the same “Love Language,” or even the same language at all. This stunt, one of the absolute standouts of 2023, comes from Duolingo and Peacock. In a trailer for a fake series that TV fans would most certainly watch, the partners grab ahold of every dating show trope and spin it into a perfectly on-brand message. Cheers! Salut! Prost! Sante!