April Fool’s Day Campaigns
Canadian airline WestJet is best known for its innovative and endearing Christmas campaigns, but its first foray into viral video making was in 2011, with an April Fools’ Day joke. The brand produced a video announcing that it was adding helium to the air mix onboard to lighten the plane. As the representative spoke, the helium in the air caused his voice to become flat and squeaky. The public reaction was overwhelmingly positive, and the video served as the foundation for the brand’s new quirky, engaging social media strategy.
It’s easy for a well-intended April Fools’ Day prank to go awry, and brands should only attempt such an activation after careful consideration and preparation. However, when done well, they can humanize a brand, drive significant earned media, and in some cases, create an entirely new stream of revenue. Such was the case for the ASPCA and American Eagle’s joint April Fool’s Day prank in 2014. The clothing retailer created a faux line of pet apparel, dubbed “American Beagle,” and pledged $1 to the ASPCA for every dollar spent at American Eagle during the week of April 1. Not only did the ASPCA earn $100,000 through the program, but consumer enthusiasm for the “American Beagle” clothing line was so overwhelming, American Eagle actually mass-produced its pet clothing, creating a new revenue stream from an April Fools’ joke.
TV provider DishLATINO wanted to expand its target audience by engaging Hispanic consumers who watched mostly English-language programming. The one type of programming this group still consistently watched on Spanish-language TV was soccer, due to the cultural connection it provided. To integrate itself into this deep-seated passion, DishLATINO created a “super fan” character dubbed “The Streaker,” and produced a video of him baring it all at a soccer match, much to the chagrin of players on the field and arena security.
To maximize minimal paid media budgets (<$500,000), the media strategy relied heavily on Social and PR channels. As part of this effort, DishLATINO leveraged the irreverence of April Fools’ Day, inserting the brand and The Streaker in the middle of the action. To help ignite a social media firestorm, DishLATINO "leaked" an unbranded, grainy (shot on smart phone) version of the "El Streaker" video two days before April Fools’ Day via a fabricated social media proxy named "enchiladaroja93." When April Fools’ day arrived, newspaper wraps resembling tabloid covers in key markets "broke the story" of Derbez streaking at a soccer game. A vanity website address (ShockNoticias.com) included in the tabloid cover took consumers directly to the DishLATINO website, where they could see the full video, alternate endings and learn more about DishLATINO's soccer offering.
In 2015, Chevrolet was preparing to launch two new models, the Malibu and Spark, on April first. The brand decided to turn the typical April Fools’ Day prank on its head, and instead of tricking consumers, treated them to a day full of positive surprises. #BestDayEver consisted of “Acts of Awesomeness” happening all over the United States. Among them, Chevrolet surprised a military base with a Kid Rock concert, held a luncheon for new moms featuring a pop-up performance from singer Kelly Clarkson, partnered with actors Alec Baldwin and Olivia Wilde to “take over” college classrooms, and gave away dozens of tickets to sports fans. By changing the way consumers thought about a day like April Fools’, Chevy was successful in changing how consumers viewed the brand, ultimately driving reappraisal of the brand in the U.S.
Source
"WestJet Christmas Miracle: Mini Miracles." Corey Evans, Manager, Sponsorship, Community Investment and Experiential Marketing at WestJet Airlines. ANA/BAA Best-in-Class REGGIE Marketing Campaigns Members-Only Conference, 12/8/16; "The ASPCA's Success in Retail and Corporate Partnerships." Helene Gordon, Senior Director, Licensing and Retail Development at the ASPCA; Elysia Howard, Vice President of Marketing and Licensing at the ASPCA; Tina Wyman, Director of Corporate Partnerships at the ASPCA. ANA Brand Management Committee Meeting, 9/17/14; "#BestDayEver." 2015 Internationalist Innovative Digital Solutions Silver Winner. Brand: Chevrolet. Lead Agency: Carat.