The best April Fool’s Day pranks on social media – 2016

We’ve gathered up some of the best April Fool’s Day pranks we could find this 1 April. Enjoy!

Lindt

Simple yet effective, Lindt announces Broccoli Lindor Balls. Delicious… ? This works well as it’s obvious enough for the audience to guess it’s a prank, therefore making them feel clever and encouraging sharing with their friends.

Netflix

Many an introvert community manager was tickled by this hilarious fool from Netflix. Public service announcements, as they’re known in America, to discourage Netflix binge-watching. Thank goodness it’s a prank, we shall continue to binge on our favourite shows as an act of self-care when not managing online communities.

WSFM

WSFM created a fake news story around the introduction of ‘Bridge Tolls’ to Sydney. This prank was a little cheap, created to stir up anger to get a reaction especially in light of the fact that unwanted tolls are being reintroduced in Sydney. However, I do like their dedication to the prank, creating a website to help convince unsuspecting audience members that it wasn’t a prank.

KFC

KFC’s new range of finger lickin’ good nail polishes? Gold star for this prank, KFC! It’s on-brand, it’s clever and you went to an effort making great video content, not just doing a quick and dirty throw-away piece of content. The audience has responded well.

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IKEA

IKEA’s prank is a cracker. They’ve tapped into a fact – high usage of smartphones in the bathroom – combined with existing products to create the wifi toilet brush.

IKEA’s prank is one of my favourites as they’ve gone the next step and community managed responses in line with the gag and brand tone of voice. Great work, IKEA.

Gelato Messina

My absolute favourite April Fool’s Day prank on social media this year? Messina claimed they’ll be closing early at their Sydney locations due to the new lockout laws. It’s outrageous that Messina would have to close so early, their fans don’t want to believe it and yet have been fooled. Within 15 minutes of sharing this post, they had almost 300 interactions, a much stronger response than some of the bigger brands I’ve seen attempt April Fools jokes today. Another reason this works so well is that it supports the protest against Sydney’s lockout laws and shows Messina to be a part of the local community. An all-round brilliant piece of content!