With just 24-hours to go until everyone starts making up news stories, running headlines with clever double-meanings, and generally fabricating the heck out of the hours between 12AM and 12PM, we thought rather than getting involved ourselves it might be useful to look at what happened 52 weeks earlier. As such we present Smoking Gun PR’s round up of April Fool’s PR pranks from 2014. Take a look and get ready to crack at least one smile…
Google+ Hoff Photo Bomb
Almost as if it came from our own office, Google+ decided to unveil a ‘new feature’ for the network; Auto Awesome Photobombs. Put simply, this allows people to add a celebrity to their pictures before posting, so by tagging +David Hasselhoff one of the best selling musicians in Germany would appear in your image. It’s also complete bullsh!t.
Eau De Fillet
They say that if you’ve never eaten fillet steak you don’t know what real steak is. Inspired by that notion, probably, The Manhattan Grill in London’s West India Quay decided to launch it’s own brand of cologne. The liquid was apparently ‘the deep red of a manly, rare and bloody steak’, boasted aphrodisiac qualities, and never existed.
Sizzling Bacon: The Movie
This wasn’t true but might actually work one day- like a TV screen showing a burning log fire, only more flavoursome. To bring you up to speed, Netflix U.S. announced a new original movie release, which would comprise 20-minutes of footage depicting lovely bacon sizzling on a pre-heated pan. So vivid you can almost taste that pig meat.
Thorpe Park Dogs
Another brand taking after our own hearts, Thorpe Park revealed details of a fresh addition to its thrill-seeking offering, The Rover Coaster, which, as you might have guessed, is a roller coaster designed specifically for K9s, even going so far as to ‘invite’ five lucky hounds to test out the ride that never was. A barking mad idea indeed (sorry).
Fli-Fi from Samsung
What does London have in abundance? The answer, of course, is pigeons. And what does London not have enough of? Again, the response is obvious; on-the-street, city-wide Wi-Fi coverage. The solution; attach 26-gram routers to the often-blighted urban birds and, as if by magic, suddenly the entire capital is connected. Or not, given it’s merely a lampoon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1TWVkP-L84
Breathable Wellies
The Hunter brand has made a great business model selling wellies to hipsters for Glastonbury, with so many attendees donning the footwear there’s now a special ticketing option available. OK, so that last bit is completely made up, as was a new line of ‘breathable boots’, complete with open-toes, fresh from the manufacturer’s April Fool-happy HQ.
London’s Edible Skyline
Thanks to Warburton’s, last year reports emerged that a new raft of high rise towers were planned for the UK capital, including The Loaf- twin buildings straddling Norman Foster’s divisive Gherkin- and a 240-metre high edifice to be known as The Slice of Bread. We’d actually welcome the plans if they were for real- nothing better than a city with a GSOH.
Mile High Club
Boutique hoteliers Mr. & Mrs. Smith decided to ‘offer’ customers the chance to indulge their passions well before arriving at one of the high-end residences. The Love Is In The Air package sees guests board a private jet from sexy Luton Airport, and head off to a European city of their choosing, whilst doing what comes naturally en route. Ooh la la.
HeliYum
Famed U.S. indie beer giant Samuel Adams poked fun at the whole micro-brewing craze when it posted a video on YouTube of a new strain, known as HeliYum. As you may have seen, this is beer made with helium, offering a malty flavour and guaranteed to go straight to your head (and vocal chords).
Bitcoin Salaries
Over in the U.S., Glassdoor is a serious player in the recruitment and employment game. As such we can’t imagine how many people panicked when the agency announced all employees paid through the firm would be receiving their wages in the form of Bitcoins, the global electronic currency most of us still don’t understand.