6 April Fool's Day 2024 posts we loved from Malaysian brands

Happy April Fool's Day!

Historically, brands love to troll their consumers with fake food, fake products, interesting spins on their products and more. And every year, the MARKETING-INTERACTIVE editorial team looks forward to what brands are able to come with to fool increasingly discerning consumers. 

While still early, these are some of the most interesting April Fool's campaigns we have seen in Malaysia this year.

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1. Auntie Anne's MY

Over the weekend, pastry brand Auntie Anne's took to Instagram to announced what looked like a store closure announcement.

Viewers of this post took to the comment section and raised their curiosity and suspicion about this announcement being part of an April Fool's joke given the date. As it turned out, Auntie Anne's followed up on April Fool's Day by stating that they meant to announce that their brand will be closer to its consumer base through their newly launched app. Using the app, customers can order and browse menu updates and more.

2. Durex

This April Fool's Day, Durex Malaysia once again is making its presence felt with the launch of its first-ever Durex Energy Drink.

The brand also revealed different flavors that would go with these drinks such as dragonfruit, coconut and rambutan.

Thankfully, we weren't fooled for long since Durex included an extra graphic to the slideshow to let netizens know that it was all a prank as part of April Fools. 

3. Family Mart MY 

Convenience store Family Mart MY had netizens on social fooled this April Fool's Day by posting an image suggesting that the content was not loading. In the caption, it said, "Introducing our new sofuto flavour available now."

It did not take long for Family Mart's viewers to realise that they had been pranked by the brand and they expressed their amusement in the comment section of the post.

4. 4Fingers 

4Fingers Malaysia fooled customers this year by adding a '4Fingers crispy chicken croissant' to the menu. In a Facebook post, the caption read "Introducing our all-new Crispy Chicky Croissant - made fresh daily and shaped like a chicken to satisfy all your snack cravings. Add in a slice of Korean pepper butter for the ultimate experience. Available for a limited time only, and not for long." 

5. Pocky 

In partnership with Chariot Agency, snack brand Pocky has announced that they will be working on a 'Pocky Seed'– a groundbreaking innovation set to redefine how we think about snack production.

This revolutionary seed will allow everyone to grow their own snacks, promising an endless supply of Pocky directly from the plant to the palm of your hand. Sounds like something we can get behind.

6. Starbucks MY

Coffee brand Starbucks Malaysia certainly had us fooled this year. It first said that a new product would be dropping on April Fool's Day.

"We’re about to unveil something inspired by a much-loved local favorite with a twist," it said with an image suggesting that cookies and pastries would be included in the drink.

The next day, it revealed that the surprise was actually a Kuih Akok inspired nutty creamy frappuccino topped with a double dose of green tea and burnt caramel powder. It added that users had been pranked. 

"It may even be perfect beverage to pair with your own kurma butter," it said. 

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