Importance Score: 35 / 100 🔵
Every year on April 1st, social media platforms are instantly flooded with reminders of April Fools’ Day. Despite the ubiquity of the date, brands and celebrities persist in launching their annual April Fools’ pranks, often through elaborate online posts that rarely deceive anyone. This year’s attempts ranged from the outlandish to the mildly eyebrow-raising, prompting fleeting amusement as users scrolled through their feeds.
Breast Milk Mayonnaise Among Outlandish April Fools’ Jokes
The exorbitant price of a single $19 strawberry from Southern California grocery chain Erewhon has been widely discussed online. Welch’s, famous for its fruit snacks, cleverly parodied this with its ” $19 Welch’s Fruit Snacks Single Strawberry,” urging consumers to “indulge in the ultimate, single-bite experience.”
Adding to the day’s bizarre announcements, food personality Molly Baz, known for a previous lactation cookie billboard, promoted a fictional breast milk mayonnaise line on Instagram, citing an excess milk supply. She jokingly mentioned a “limited run” of 500 bottles, highlighting the absurdity of the concept, given that mayonnaise typically doesn’t contain milk.
Conversely, Cadbury, the Easter treat manufacturer, unveiled “Creme Egg on the Goo,” a to-go packet of Creme Egg filling. This prank product, advertised as a condiment alternative, sparked genuine interest among consumers who, despite its humorous intent, expressed a desire for its actual release.
Tech Companies Enter the April Fools’ Day Fray with Canine-Centric Pranks
Gaming company Razer joined the April Fools’ Day fun by introducing the “Razer Skibidi,” a purported A.I.-powered headset designed to translate Gen Alpha slang. The humorous YouTube video showcased the device interpreting and converting speech into “brainrot appropriate” language.
Software firm ElevenLabs, specializing in speech technology, announced “Text to Bark AI,” jokingly described as the first text-to-speech software for dogs.
Tech company Nothing presented the “Ear (3.5mm),” headphones with an comically long 50-meter cord, in a video posted on X, branding the product as “beautifully inconvenient.”
Assortment of Random April Fools’ Day Stunts and Mishaps
The adage that a joke requiring immediate explanation is poorly executed held true for Tiger Woods, who swiftly clarified his injury comeback announcement as an April Fools’ prank within six minutes of posting. This rapid retraction may have been prompted by commentator Jason Whitlock’s earnest congratulations across multiple posts before realizing he had been fooled.
In a collaborative marketing stunt, Josh Cellars wines and Joss and Main furniture unveiled a line of furniture featuring pre-designed red wine stains, aiming to transform “oops” moments. Joss and Main further amplified the playful nature of the campaign with the hashtag “#justjoshing you.”
University of Florida’s interim president, Kent Fuchs, ventured into the world of cryptocurrency humor with a video promoting the school’s fictional meme coin, “Foxy Gator” (FXG). With assistance from university staff, the video playfully revealed the coin’s true purpose: to “Fund Kent’s Retirement,” ensuring no one mistook the joke for reality.
Language-learning app Duolingo executed a notable early April Fools’-style campaign in February, announcing the fictional demise of its mascot, Duo, on February 11th. The app quipped, “Tbh, he probably died waiting for you to do your lesson.”
The prank garnered significant attention, even drawing mock condolences from pop star Dua Lipa, who posted “Til’ death duo part.” Duolingo later “resurrected” Duo, capitalizing on the engagement.
Despite the success of this earlier stunt in generating buzz, Duolingo’s official April Fools’ Day effort was comparatively less impactful. The company released a video promoting the “Duolingo World Cruise,” a humorous five-year voyage promising linguistic fluency in every port of call.