Every year, brands roll the dice on April Fools’ Day. Some land it perfectly. Others… not so much.
Here are a few that genuinely made people stop and think “hang on… is this real?”
🌳 BBC (1957) – Spaghetti Trees
Still the benchmark. A Panorama segment showing spaghetti being harvested from trees in Switzerland, delivered with complete seriousness.
People rang in asking how to grow their own. Different era, but still brilliant.
🍔 Burger King (1998) – Left-Handed Whopper
A newspaper ad for a Whopper designed specifically for left-handed customers. People went into restaurants asking for one. Others asked for the “normal” version.
🗺️ Google (2013) – Google Maps Treasure Mode
Google claimed Maps could now help you find actual pirate treasure. They even built a retro treasure map version of the product.
It looked so polished it took a second to realise how ridiculous it was.
🍫 Cadbury (2018) – Creme Egg Mayo
A jar of mayonnaise made with Creme Eggs. The image alone did the job. People were torn between disgust and curiosity.
🛋️ IKEA (2019) – Dog High Chairs
High chairs for dogs, designed exactly like IKEA furniture. Completely unnecessary. Also just believable enough that people wanted one.
🥤 Innocent Drinks (2022) – Hot Smoothies
Smoothies you heat up and drink warm. Sounds fine until you actually imagine it. Then it really doesn’t.
🛏️ Dreams (2023) – Anti-Snore Pillow
A pillow that detects snoring and gently nudges your partner to roll over. Half joke, half something people would genuinely add to basket.
📱 Duolingo (2025) – “Duo on Demand”
Duolingo announced you could book its mascot, Duo the owl, to show up in person and keep you accountable for your lessons.
Same slightly threatening tone they use online, just taken into the real world. Which made it feel weirdly plausible.
There’s a pattern with all of these. They’re close enough to reality that you hesitate, even if it’s only for a second. And they’re fully committed — no half-hearted posts, no obvious wink too early.
We’ll see what turns up this year.
We have been known to dabble ourselves including our announcement as the official PR agency for the Royal Wedding in 2012 – leading to calls from foreign press…and did have an idea about an April Fools joke about becoming a fully AI PR agency… but thought better of it, as it sounds a little too plausible.
Happy April Fools 🙂
