By Blake Bowyer, Director of Digital Strategy
Oh, April 1st. It’s marked on every community manager’s calendar as either the best day of the year or the worst day of the year. It’s a day when brand s feel the need to be ‘silly’ and create fake products, make fake announcements, and generally be ridiculous.
A Crisco soft drink? Why, yes please.
A wristwatch that tells the future? Seems legit.
A broomstick that attaches to your cat so you can sweep with it? Saves money, and the environment!
In a world where brand s think consumers are ravenously consuming content, this is what we get. Let’s take a look at five brand s that nailed it and five that went “all out” for it and wound up with more shrugs than retweets.
Five brand s that were laughed with, not at.
TOMS X UBER: shuberX
The next step of the #TOMS movement is here … introducing our newest partnership with @Uber, #shuberX http://t.co/NZXAb93C0y
— TOMS (@TOMS) April 1, 2014
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Airbnb: List Your Desk
Airbnb is proud to introduce @Airbrb, a new way to earn money while you work: http://t.co/kNA6gWhuqL #coworking — Airbnb (@Airbnb) April 1, 2014
$50 plus all the paper clips you can hand le.
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headitt from reditt
headdit – a revolutionary new way to browse reddit http://t.co/zmZAuZSnzD — the reddit alien (@reddit) April 1, 2014
You know people tried it.
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Caskers: # WhiskeyLife
Step aside water cooler, you’ve just been demoted. #WhiskeyCooler #WhiskeyLife http://t.co/tvucTmhCXb pic.twitter.com/O4wq7bZ0IK — Caskers (@Caskers) April 1, 2014
This wins for the fully-functional microsite alone.
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Kenneth Cole SASQWATCH
Go behind the scenes for a sneak peek at our unique new watch collection! http://t.co/qDL2kdjlVo — Kenneth Cole (@KennethColePrd) April 1, 2014
I’m so conflicted on this one! Kenneth Cole has been a social media nightmare, but SASQWATCH is too good. You won this round, KC.
And here are five brand s that missed the mark.
KFC Australia: Mighty Mouth Expand er
When you’ve already created the Mighty Gut Expand er, this is the next logical step.
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Kellogg’s Wasabi Pea Pops
Meet our newest cereal: WASABI PEA POPS. Pour a bowl. Add some milk. Feel the burn! #AprilFools pic.twitter.com/GHR5HOHs5j — Kellogg’s (@Kelloggs_US) April 1, 2014
Kellogg’s, you can’t actually tag it #AprilFools. C’mon.
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Domino’s UK: The Edibox
Read all about The #DominosEdibox, the future of snackaging… http://t.co/tgoVn6mLqx pic.twitter.com/KSlL4AAoLU — Domino’s Pizza UK (@Dominos_UK) April 1, 2014
If you thought Domino’s couldn’t be any grosser, think again.
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KLM Nikes
How about it @Nike? RT @Fanfiber: What if @Nike and @KLM collabed for some real Nike AIRS? http://t.co/GOPFl7PyZQ pic.twitter.com/Yx1fxZiUWr — Royal Dutch Airlines (@KLM) April 1, 2014
Not sure if this is for April Fools or not, but I know for certain that it’s desperate.
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Connected: An AOL Original
Me too! AOL plans its own full-length original series http://t.co/wKURyoEAUZ pic.twitter.com/WhDr3ZglK6
— CNET (@CNET) April 1, 2014
Oh wait, this is real – I was just hoping it was a joke.
