April Fool’s Appreciation Post
A team effort, but Beth Kimmerling put the words on the page
As a kid, April Fools’ Day was like the Super Bowl for silly jokes and giggle-inducing pranks.
(And as a parent – this is your time to shine!)
A spoon frozen into your cereal? Best way to start the day.
Mom’s homemade brownies were really brown Es? Gotcha!
As a marketer, April Fools’ Day can be a controversial moment to capitalize on. We’ve all seen how a brand’s hope for comedy gold can turn into a tarnished reputation. However, we never want to beat a brand when they’re down, so from funny faux-collabs to cheeky takes on trends, LPR huddled together to name our Top 5 brands that got April Fools’ right.
- Tinder
Tinder snags our first position because two campaigns immediately jumped into the conversation. In back-to-back years, Tinder crushed April Fools’ with its 2023 ban on fish pics and the 2024 search for a VP of Ghost Hunting. Both played into commonly known dating culture, were easy gets, and definitely captured well-deserved attention. - Google
Before “newstalgia” we just had regular old nostalgia, and way back in 2015 Google delighted generations with an April Fools’ Day prank, which felt more like a fun surprise. A high-tech (at the time!), cross-team collab delivered “Pac-Maps” – an epic mashup that gamified Google Maps via a Pac-Man partnership. We know Google has done a lot of other fun pranks and stunts since then, but Pac-Maps lives on as our #1. - Lululemon
We love a brand that can take a joke and even poke fun at itself. In 2014, Lululemon was taking some heat for seemingly see-through yoga pants. But what started as joke from Jimmy Kimmel became a sold-out sensation with spray-on pants available on their website (just a stunt, kids, there was nothing to buy). - Hidden Valley Ranch x Burt’s Bees
This questionable collab announced ranch-flavored lip balm back in 2022, but the joke was on the brands! The fan response to the duo’s prank was so positive that they revisited the idea and brought it to life as an actual limited-edition product in 2024 just ahead of the Super Bowl! The two beloved brands came together in good fun and the fans were clearly here for it. - Duolingo
I mean, when aren’t they pranking us? In 2021 they introduced the Duolingo Roll, turning the bathroom into the classroom, then launched the “Love Language” reality show trailer with Peacock in 2023, followed by last year’s kind of unhinged Duolingo on Ice. No one had the death, and return, of the Duolingo owl mascot on their 2025 bingo cards, so we can’t wait to see what the brand has planned next.
Our news and social feeds are already giving us a taste (wink, wink – you’ve seen some of these too, right?) of what brands have in store this April Fools’ Day and we can’t wait for more. Have fun – but be careful out there!