April Fools’ Day is a prime opportunity for brands to showcase their creativity, but not every prank lands well. Some campaigns miss the mark, confusing or frustrating customers. However, when done right, April Fools’ campaigns can boost brand engagement, spark conversation and bring their audience a little laugh.
Here are a few times brands nailed their April Fools’ pranks.
1. Duolingo: Turn Your Bathroom into a Classroom
Duolingo is known for its playful approach to language learning, so its April Fools’ campaign in 2023 felt right on brand. They announced “Duolingo Roll,” a line of toilet paper products that allowed users to turn their bathroom time into productive language-learning sessions. The line included five variations of toilet papers and had its own webpage with a “buy now” button, scientific research and more.
The campaign was absurd but hilarious—leaning into the fact that people scroll their phones in the bathroom anyway. While it was just a joke, it produced great results. The campaign generated hundreds of thousands of site visits worldwide, millions of earned media impressions, a substantial rise in new users and had people talking for months after. The campaign went on to win a Shorty Award in the Global Campaign category.
2. McDonald’s: Milkshake Sauce Pots
McDonald’s tapped into a common customer experience for its 2019 April Fools’ campaign: dipping fries into milkshakes. They announced Milkshake Sauce Pots, a new dipping sauce inspired by their classic shakes. The idea was that customers could get little sauce containers of vanilla, chocolate or strawberry milkshake to dunk their fries into.
The ad team working this campaign had a goal of moving away from corporate messaging and tapping into their customer base. They analyzed their audience’s behavior on social media and noticed a trend: lots of people like to dunk their fries into their milkshakes. Taking consumer behavior into account set up the campaign for success, and made the “new product launch” more believable.
The results? Over 2 million post clicks, their highest organic reach percentage yet, and a demand to make these sauces into a real product.
3. Le Pickle Club & Mooala: Pickle Milk
Pickles and milk don’t sound like a natural pairing, but that didn’t stop Le Pickle Club and Mooala from announcing Pickle Milk as a new dairy-free beverage on April 1, 2025. They leaned into the growing demand for alternative milk products, suggesting that briny, pickle-infused milk was the next big trend.
The campaign made its debut on Instagram in a collaboration post on both companies’ accounts along with a prompt to enter a giveaway to win the new milk along with some merch. The Pickle Milk was a fake product, of course, but the giveaway remains open to everyone who participates. The winner will receive a case of Mooala simple alt milks, a Le Pickle Club sweatshirt and hat, and a $25 Whole Foods gift card to stock up on their favorite pickles.
Why These April Fools’ Campaigns Worked
Each of these campaigns succeeded because they:
- Stayed on brand: The jokes aligned with each brand’s identity and industry.
- Felt almost believable: They played on real customer behaviors or trends.
- Engaged audiences: They got people commenting, sharing and even asking if the products should become real.
April Fools’ can be a risky marketing move, but when done well, it creates memorable moments that strengthen brand identity and audience engagement.