An argument for sitting out April Fool’s Day on social
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It’s almost here – April Fool’s Day is tomorrow, and thus marks the annual day of “you can’t believe what you read anywhere, especially on social media (more so than any other day of the year).”
It’s time we had some real talk on this subject, folks.
It may seem like a great idea to jump on the bandwagon and come up with something witty and clever that will give your fans a chuckle and bump up engagement on your channels.
I will admit, on occasion, a company has posted something so clever that I myself found it to be entertaining. Last year, my personal favorite came from Chicagoland deep dish pizza chain Lou Malnati’s, which (fake) announced it would be opening a floating restaurant on Lake Michigan.
But let’s be honest: as a general rule, April Fool’s pranks from a company are almost always an average to terrible idea, and I would advise you to not do it. The bigger your brand, the bigger the risk.
Let’s evaluate why…
It’s in the name. The “holiday” is called April Fool’s. I don’t know about you, but in my experience, people don’t like feeling like fools, or feeling foolish. No one likes to be tricked, no one likes to be lied to, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why brands think it is a great idea to intentionally trick their fans. Given how much brand loyalty counts and how finicky consumers are, why would you do something that could make some of your brand fans mad at you? Talk about creating your own crisis.
The bandwagon is seriously overcrowded. Over the last say five years, I’ve noticed a steady increase in the number of brands that are posting for April Fool’s. It seems (like many things in corporate comms) that if McDonald’s or Coca-Cola does something, everyone else decides they should do it too. Your parents warned you about this. Just because McDonald’s jumps off the metaphorical bridge doesn’t mean you should too. As I’ve written before, it really comes down to your brand voice. If it makes sense for you to be cheeky and joke, maybe it makes sense. But if you’re a Fortune 500 company and you never joke on social media, why is this day different? Remember, we can’t all be like Wendy’s.
The byproduct of this bandwagon overcrowding is that our already fickle consumers have learned to distrust brands, especially on April Fool’s Day. Is that really the message you want to reinforce? Don’t trust what we say? Also, the crowded bandwagon makes it harder for your April Fool’s joke to be received as amazing or great, vs. just another April Fool’s post (yawn, scroll).There is massive potential for pranks to go sideways and for things to backfire. Do you really want to create a PR crisis of your own making? Because you just don’t have enough to do?
Let’s examine my Lou Malnati’s example above. Like I said, it was my favorite April Fool’s post of the year, but look at the comments. The one fan says “Such a cruel joke.” True fans were first excited and then disappointed. Is that really what you want your customers to feel? Disappointment? Betrayal?People are stupid and gullible. Sorry to say it, but our average IQ must be going downhill these days. Brands have to understand that people out there are dumb. They don’t remember it’s April Fool’s Day. They see something quickly and take it at surface value because it’s coming from your official account and it looks legit. Even if you think the joke is obvious, your fans may not be as observant or thoughtful as you think. It’s amazing to me how many companies do April Fool’s posts and spend good time and resouces making them look really, really legitimate only to be shocked when people think they are legitimate.
How much is your brand worth, and why would you damage it intentionally?
If you’re the type of person that likes to learn from history, let’s examine some of the more spectacular PR nightmares resulting from an April Fool’s joke gone awry.
Corporate April Fool’s jokes actually predate social media. It’s not a new idea. It’s not trendy. In 1996, my hometown newspaper, The Philadelphia Inquirer, published an item stating that Taco Bell had purchased the Liberty Bell and would rename it the “Taco Liberty Bell.” In addition to a massive public outcry, the stunt cost Taco Bell $50K, which it donated toward the restoration and preservation of the bell as a mea culpa for the stupid stunt.
2. Current politics aside, back in the good old days when Elon was just the nutter who ran then-Twitter, you may recall that in 2018, he posted a message from his account saying that Tesla had gone “completely and totally bankrupt.” His shareholders didn’t find it funny, though. Tesla stock dropped 5 percent on the news, which was helpfully formatted to look like a real press release with a dateline and everything.
3. Many April Fool’s posts seem to focus on B2C brands announcing new ridiculous products. In 1998, Burger King announced a Whopper designed for left-handed people – and then they were shocked when the orders rolled in from southpaws excited to try this newfangled burger.
4. Or, brands will go messing with their brands. In 2021, auto maker Volkswagen announced it would be changing its name to “Voltswagon” to reflect it’s growing commitment to electric vehciles. To make matters worse, the announcement was leaked to the press, which added to its legitimacy. Shareholders thought the news was real and the company’s stock price went up – leading to potential legal action from shareholders who claimed the company misled investors.
5. Be careful as well with offering “joke” prizes. Because if the joke is not obvious, someone is going to be sorely disappointed. In 2021, a Hooters waitress in Florida was delighted when the company announced she had won a contest and would receive a new Toyota. Blindfolded, she was led out into the parking lot and presented with a Star Wars action figure of Yoda – a toy Yoda. The waitress was obviously disappointed and moreover, she felt she had been lied to by the company. According to the Orlando Sentinel, she settled out of court. (Kind of amazing how many of these stories end in lawsuits…)
So, long story short, if you are a company – especially a publicly traded one – think long and hard about whether your planned April Fool’s social media prank is worth it. Evaluate it from a risk standpoint: If people think it’s real, could your stock price and shareholders be affected? Could it result in legal action? And most importantly, will it damage your relationship with your fans? Is the juice worth the somewhat comical squeeze? I would say not.