Pity the Fools: April Fools & Brands

On April Fools, brands all over the world - even the White House - took a moment out of their busy days to make fools out unsuspecting humans.

You can call them harmless pranks, but you can also call it branding. These carefully orchestrated shenanigans created a serious buzz and some brands spent the day trending in social media.

It may seem counterproductive to trick your audience, but this kind of tomfoolery can put brands on the radars of new consumers and serve as a guide for future campaigns.

Here’s a recap of some of the most memorable hoaxes from April Fools.

1. HBOWatch Announces Peter Dinklage Replacement on Game of Thrones.

2. Seamless Web’s Deluxe Delivery Service

3. Netflix’s Somewhat Plausible, Overly-Specific Categories

4. Google's Unrelenting Assault from Every Angle
YouTube's Selects a Winner and Shuts down

 
Google Nose

Treasure Maps

5. Twitter's Buy a Vowel 

6. Skype Into Space

7. US Military Working Cat Program

8. Vimeow

9. Hipchat Introduces Emotichat

10. Scope Bacon

 Bonus: A Special Message from the President

{Written by Simeon}