Some funny, some strange: April Fool's Day 2023 campaigns

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, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE looks forward to what brands are up to on this day. While still early, these are some of the most interesting April Fool's campaigns (at least we think they are pranks) we have seen island-wide this year.

So, have you been pranked yet?

Domino's  

Err. Would you like to slice up your loved ones face? Well Domino's thinks you might. This April Fool's Day, pizza restaurant chain Domino's is apparently allowing you to create custom printed pizzas for special occasions. The food chain is printing fans' portraits on pizzas like what one would see on tacky birthday cakes or calendars. 

Durex

Food and sex - both activities that people generally enjoy, and yet who would have thought Durex will be combining the two?

Durex is making its April Fools comeback with the brand's very own The “Happiest” Meal available for one-day only on 1 April 2023. The meal includes nuggets, fries and an "Invisible" drink. According to Durex, there are special goodies that will turn into a surprise for all and so the brand encourages everyone to dig in. This complimentary meal can be redeemed at two locations: Guardian at Marina Bay Sands and Watsons at Bugis Junction on a first come, first serve basis.  

Flash Coffee 

Coffee addicts, this one is for you.

Flash Coffee has a special treat for its fans. As Flash Coffee would say, "Eau are in for a special treat." The coffee chain decided to introduce Eau de Flash - its new fragrance line that allows fans to indulge in the rich and irresistible essence of freshly brewed coffee - even outside of its coffee shops. According to the brand, the perfume is now available in both Eau de Parfum and Eau de Toilette from 1 April at SG$104. "Bask in the perfect blend of zesty citrus top notes and aromatic lingering coffee heart notes, creating an invigorating scent that gets you pumped to take on the day. As the fragrance settles, the base notes of oud and tonka leaves a warm, woody finish," Flash Coffee said. 

Don't miss: Subway SG indulges fan's request by making April Fool's joke a reality

Gong Cha

Fancy some stinky tofu? Gong Cha certainly does with a “limited edition” bubble tea concoction that features the Taiwanese specialty. 

According to Gong Cha, the drink supposedly features its classic milk tea and soy blend topped with its “signature milk foam and a stick of freshly made-to-order stinky tofu”. 

Considering that it is only available on 1 April according to its social media post, you might want to take this one with a pinch of salt. 

KFC 

KFC is turning up the heat for its fans this April Fool’s Day by hilariously launching a campaign that blurs out its juicy finger lickin’ dishes.

The campaign, running on its Instagram page, also aimed to drive traffic to its brand-new page on TikTok. It was executed with the help of its social media agency Arena Media.

Laurier

Personally, we wouldn't be all that mad if this April Fool's joke by Laurier was actually real. Over the weekend, Laurier announced its “head-to-toe collection” which features shoulder pads, butt pads and under-eye pads.

The butt pads reportedly are supposed to make one's butt two time perkier while its eye pads make users two times more awake. We don't know about you, but we need this to be a reality ASAP. 

Medows

Salty and sweet combinations are arguably top tier when it comes to desserts but this April Fool's Medows clearly took the trend just one step too far with soy sauce ice cream. 

"The salty notes of the soy sauce perfectly complements the sweetness of the ice cream, creating a flavor experience that is both complex and delicious that will leave your taste buds wanting for more," it said in its Instagram post. We aren't sure about you but our tastebuds certainly aren't wanting more of this April Fool's prank.

Meiji

Goodbye panda? Our favorite Hello Panda cookies are turning their backs to us and waving goodbye instead of hello in this new April Fool's prank by snack company Meiji.

 The image was posted to Meiji's Instagram page with the caption, "This isn’t goodbye, this is see you tomorrow," a clear April Fool's prank.

Nasty Cookie

Nasty Cookie clearly knows how to do April Fool's Day right with its Nasty Cookie Meal that is a joke but also, not. The Nasty Cookie Meal features cookie fries, cookie nuggets with a caramel dip, and a creamy milkshake.

The meal was available for customers to purchase over the weekend online and in-store. 

Republic of Singapore Navy

The last people we expected to get into the fun of April Fool's was the Republic of Singapore Navy but clearly, they can have fun too. Over the weekend, the Navy introduced their new Frontline Reconnaissance and Operations Group (FROG) from the Naval Diving Unit.

FROG comprises highly trained amphibians which have undergone specialised training to be able to communicate and work alongside their human counterparts," according to its Instagram post.

The FROG comprises of Knowledge Enhanced Reconnaissance and Maritime Interdiction Teams (KERMITs) which can conduct underwater interdiction operations to prevent or disrupt illicit maritime activities, such as piracy and terrorism, it continued. 

The Navy later updated the post to say that while FROG and KERMIT are pretty cool names for a naval diving outfit, they are "sadly just a figment of our overly active imagination."

Shopback 

This one took us a minute. 

If you've always wondered if you could get Cashback on a certain item, now you can with ShopBack introducing one of its latest innovation, product feature, the "CashBack Detector". According to the company, it is looking forward to unveiling its newest feature designed to enhance your app experience. Very sus.  

Shopee 

Question: Why was the delivery driver forced to wear glasses?
Answer: Because everyone wanted contact-less delivery.

Hur.hur.

This is just one of the 18 similar jokes shoppers might find in his or her parcel by Shopee Xpress.  To celebrate April Fool’s and to spread some happiness, Shopee Xpress delivery personnel have pasted punny riddles on 8,000 parcels that will be delivered across Singapore on 1 April.  This campaign was inspired by one of Shopee Xpress drivers who randomly decided to share his dad jokes with some recipients two weeks ago. His jokes generated some positive feedback with one influencer posting the joke she received on TikTok and SGAG creating a meme about it. 

Starbucks Malaysia 

Of course, our favorite coffee chain Starbucks had to hop on the bandwagon this year with the introduction of its Rendang Coconut Frappuccino. The social media post stated that the drink would be topped with Serunding, a savoury Malay side dish made with sambal and shredded coconut meat. 

As a Serunding lover ourselves, this certainly has the potential to be very delicious. Unfortunately, it is only available in our dreams, according to the brand.

Subway Malaysia

Subway cookies are famous and addictive and even us at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE can't help but sneak one (or two) on a sluggish afternoon. However, we'd love to be able to make these sweet treats at home and Subway clearly wants to make our dreams come true. Subway Malaysia recently teased fans by offering up its famous chocolate chip cookie recipe is fans clicked a link in its post. 

Upon clicking the link, users were directed to a page that said, "Gotcha Subfam! happy Apirl Fool's Day"

The famous Subway cookies are not available for fans to make at home! Or is this a joke? It looks like we will just have to continue trying to recreate the recipe form memory and taste. 

Saw any other posts worth being pointed out? Share them with us at chloet@marketing-interactive.com.

Related articles: 

Real or fake? Product and campaign launches this April Fool's Day
April Fool's Day roundup: Did you do a double take for these pranks?
Brands debut new 'innovations' for April Fool's Day