5 of the best April Fools’ Day 2014 marketing stunts

April Fools’ Day is a great opportunity for brands to show their personalities and that they too can have a bit of a giggle now and then. Some brilliant April Fools’ Day pranks caught my eye this week – from an edible pizza box, to bread-shaped headquarters, many brands jumped on the bandwagon and got their stunts, thus brand names, viral – here are my top 5 picks…

1. Cheeteau
Frito-Lays owned brand Cheetos notified the media on the Thursday prior to April Fools’ Day of Cheeteau, a "limited-edition fragrance that celebrates the irreverent, intriguing and playful nature of the iconic feline with a scent bold enough to excite and delight." Featuring an unusually smouldering and edgy Chester Cheetah and a nice play on words, this stunt really had me chuckling at my desk.

 
2. HeliYum
In this cheeky prank, American beer brand Samuel Adams tries to convince us that it has come up with a new beer called HeliYum - the new flavour is based on the idea that taking advantage of the properties of helium is the answer for a truly remarkable brew. You know what’s coming in the video, but what happens after he takes the first sip had me clutching my sides.

3. Domino’s Edibox
Domino’s Pizza attempted to fool us with this quirky stunt claiming to have curated an edible pizza box; ‘Never again will people up and down the country have to struggle getting a square pizza box into a round bin. Simply munch your way through the new Edibox safe in the knowledge that you won’t have to put the bins out that night.’ Who else thinks the pizza lurking inside looks extremely tempting? Job done, Domino’s!

 
4. Warburton’s ‘The Loaf’
Warburton’s rose to the occasion with its announcement of plans to build a new skyscraper in the heart of the City ‘The Loaf’. The structure consisted of two bread shaped buildings creating a Gherkin Sandwich, and a monument to the popularity of the mighty sandwich. After last year’s “Ends Only” April Fools’ Day success, the Warburton’s marketing team is on a roll…

 
5. Thorpe Bark
Thorpe Park was proclaimed the world's first dog-friendly theme park this April Fools’ Day with the launch of the ‘Thorpe Bark’ event. Thorpe Park bosses invited five of the UK's most daring dogs to trial the park, and apparently received ‘glowing reviews’ (from dogs!); a spokeswoman said, "We've tested each ride extensively with our volunteers and apart from a few nervous barks on Stealth, our guests rated it five woofs out of five." Hilarious.
 

Jokes and puns aside, brands know that getting people talking is critical, and these silly pranks are a great way of staying at the forefront of consumers’ minds - the best stunts even receive copious amounts more Tweets, Facebook likes and press coverage than your standard press release, so 1st April is a date marketers should have engrained in their minds.

Joss Davidge is managing partner of BEcause, an award winning brand experience agency which has been helping brands become more tried, tested and talked about for over 20 years.