In the age of all-things-Internet, it's no surprise that most April Fool's gags now start online, rather than via practical or goofy offline humour.
As this is the case, we've rounded up various tactics, reviews and must-do's, so you can get the best of your April Fool's online gag...
Key Elements of the 'Ultimate April Fool's Prank'
There are three vital ingredients to an April Fool's prank that is worthy of a bellyful of laughs:
- Believability: If you've decided to convince the world we're all actually giraffes, it's not really going to take off. Be realistic with your prank - what will people reasonably believe? Make 'em believe then make 'em feel foolish...
- Humour: Whether it's funny once people have realised they've been pranked or it's already funny, it's irrelevant. Just. Make. Sure. It's. Funny!
- Fairness: As a brand contemplating doing a prank, you must remember the rules of fairness - as in don't do it distastefully, i.e. to shine a bad light on a competitor / rival. As an individual, don't take advantage of somebody else / use it as a moment to bully - be good-humoured (see #2).
4 Brand Pranks That Worked
Vimeow
This blog post on April, 1 2013, could probably be perceived as realistic, funny and it doesn't hurt anyone (three ticks for Vimeo!), but could it ever happen? Probably, not.
The announcement that Vimeo had "for the last half-dozen years" been developing a home for cat videos was funny, original and light-hearted:
"We’ve been building an innovative platform — one that you can sit on and survey your domain; tenderly rub up against; or scratch fervently, as if trying to claw the eyes out of the human who refuses to put more food in your bowl. It’s a place to hide when people come over, and a way to connect with other feral, potentially rabid strays. It’s the home for your cat videos. It’s called Vimeow." (source)
In all seriousness, there could be real business potential there...
Google Nose
The brilliant 2013 gag, Google Nose, launched with it's own Google landing page and the potential to be really believable (despite the insanity of the idea). The official-looking page (including a girl sniffing a phone, of course) would have fooled anyone to think 'really?!', had they forgotten the date - which is the beauty of a classic April Fool's gag.
Such was the brilliance of the joke, that many media channels ran articles on the latest development from Google, only to "reveal all" at the very end, like this one. Some great advertisement and a laugh at those fools who believed...!
YouTube
The idea that YouTube was actually just a phenomenally-extensive competition to find the "#bestvideo" is a frighteningly believable one. Maybe it could have been some evil government ploy?
Thankfully, it wasn't the case. Although, this 2013 gag could have had some believing with the realistic, official company video that advertised YouTube shutting down and revealing its "winner" on April, 1.
Virgin Atlantic
The sketches seem real, the brand is internationally-recognised and the idea sounds feasible in this technologically-mad world. Shame, it was all a clever hoax...
Virgin Atlantic released the news through it's blog entitled: "Virgin Atlantic Launches World's First-Ever Glass-Bottomed Plane". In it, there are sketches of where the glass would go and an explanation of Virgin's innovative history and a quote from Richard Branson himself! Who wouldn't believe?
The genius involved in this prank goes one step further as it incorporates a legit, new service for short UK domestic flights to Scotland. Putting the two together gives double whammy (and great PR for the actual service - 'The Little Red') - high five, Virgin !
The Worst Prank Ever - Time Magazine
Without a doubt, this 'prank' failed on all three of our essential prank 'must-haves'. It's not funny, not believable and very, very cruel.
With a full-page title "HOW TO CURE CANCER" and a subtitled asterix falsely explaining: "Yes, it’s now possible, thanks to new cancer dream teams that are delivering better results faster.”, it's a wonder how this ever made it onto shelves.
Our verdict: Shameful.
