5 Of The Biggest April Fools Day Fails, From Google To Taco Bell | The Drum

Bold Brand Collaborations and Weird Product Launches: 2022 April Fool Stunts

taco bell buys the liberty bell (1996)

25 years ago, the fast food chain taco bell pulled an epic stunt that riled up Americans and went viral, at least by 1996 standards.

on a seemingly normal spring day, readers of the philadelphia inquirer opened their morning papers to a full page ad featuring the image of the liberty bell with the dramatic headline: “taco bell buys liberty bell freedom”.

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Totally outraged, the locals began calling radio stations and switchboards to voice their grievances. How could a large evil corporation buy such a historical artifact, an iconic symbol of American independence?

the fallout continued before the residents began to remember what date it was. In the end, Taco Bell donated $50,000 for the upkeep and upkeep of the bell.

google’s mic drop feature angered users (2016)

Tech giant Google missed the mark with its “dropping the gmail mic” trick, which prompted some frustrated tears instead of laughter. the company announced that there would be a special version of the send button that generated a gif of a minion character dressed as a queen dropping a microphone at the end of emails.

In a blog post at the time, the organization stated, “everyone will get your message, but that’s the last you’ll hear about it.” yeah, even if people try to reply, you won’t see it.”

Unfortunately, and obviously, many people use gmail for serious business and didn’t appreciate the jovial feature.

“We received feedback that some of you were negatively affected by this feature, so we quickly disabled it last night,” Google noted. “In addition, we’re working to bring down-mic messages that had subsequent replies back to your inbox so you can read them.”

volkswagen stunt turns into car accident (2021)

what happens when an april fools prank goes terribly wrong? If last year’s Volkswagen stunt is any indication, you’ll get a 10% increase in your stock price followed by a call from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

for those who missed it, a couple of days before april fools day, volkswagen announced that it would be changing its name to voltswagen of america. It sure seemed like a smart idea, with all the hype surrounding electric vehicles. There was even a statement from Voltswagen of America CEO Scott Keogh who said, “This name change is a nod to our past as the people’s car and our firm belief that our future lies in being the people’s electric car.” people”. /p>

The media covered it as straight news. Because frankly, Volkswagen let the ruse go on too long and committed the cardinal sin of lying to the press (never a good idea, folks).

The company would come clean, but the damage had already been done when an angry press corps too gleefully pointed out that this was the same company that lied about its diesel emissions. The secretary wasn’t too happy either, as the legitimately false news caused Volkswagen’s stock price to fluctuate.

poo-pourri presents the ‘doo desk’ (2021)

In honor of the anniversary of working from home, we designed a product that helps you take your work with you wherever you go… at home.

Introducing the doo desk! ‍

never take a break again! like… never.

get yours here https://t.co/p11t9uj3sm pic.twitter.com/t6a1ykdxso

– ~pourri (@poopourri) April 1, 2021

With many people still working from home last year, poo-pourri decided to add a bit of levity to reality with a ‘doo desk’ that ensured you could get work done anywhere, anytime, without really take a break.

Unfortunately, many workers struggled to find work-life balance, often leading to major burnout and decreased mental well-being. it was no surprise that the prank sank completely.

interior draws disgust with ‘lipsteaks’ (2021)

the weirdest of all? the outback restaurant chain turned stomachs last year with this meaty range of makeup.

Names like “weirdest of all”, “I’d rather not share my half rare”, and “kiss and a half good” did not sit well with meat or vegetable lovers, with the former largely affirming that I would actually rather eat the food than think about it cosmetically.

The campaign was designed in conjunction with deutsch new york, who also designed the interior’s cozy range of tracksuits titled “steak wear swag”.