April Fools’ Day has become something of a holiday in advertising. Brands compete to entertain consumers and earn media attention, and overall it ends up being fun for everyone. In recent years, this glorious day has been amplified by social media, adding a significant element of viral marketing to the mix. Here are a few favorites.
Google Chrome. Google, always at the forefront of innovation, allowed users to switch on a browser setting for April 1 that translated everything to Emojii. Reading the New York Times became like texting a tween about international banking laws. Hours of fun.
BetaBrand. Cornering the gross-out market of the day was the Adult Adult Undergarments, which added a sexy twist to adult diapers. They come in three styles: Jungle Lord, Outlaw and The Dry Martini. The site in itself is worth a visit to read the descriptions.
Google. Yes, apparently Google should enter the comedy business. The Google homepage featured a link to the Auto Awesome Photobombs app for Google+, which lets you insert David Hasselhoff into any of your photos.
Qless. The company, which allows customers to “wait” in line on their phones by checking in, created the Line Ringer app that scans for the cell phone numbers of people ahead of you in line and calls them with fake emergencies so they’ll leave. Hopefully it’s actually in development.
Tropicana. They offered an “All Pulp” version of their signature OJ. Simple, and surprising that they haven’t pulled this prank before.
Rosetta Stone. Want to speak Clingon? Rosetta Stone has you covered. They even got Michael Dorn, who played Worf on Star Trek, to star in the video revealing the product. Oddly enough, people would definitely buy this if it were real.