Using humour and memes in your marketing and PR strategy can have both positive and negative effects on your brand’s reputation.
For the right brand, taking a risk on April Fools’ Day can help to increase engagement from your audience. Memes can be entertaining and relatable, which can help a brand connect better with its customers.
Before taking the plunge, it’s important to carefully consider your audience, message, and image to know whether it’s right for your brand.
With that in mind, let’s unpack the best and worst of 2024’s pranks.
Hit: Vegemite sets teeth on edge
Vegemite is a divisive foodstuff, as the brand knows very well. So, in order to play up to its ‘love it or hate it’ status, the idea of a Vegemite toothpaste is the perfect way to make Aussies either recoil or want to put their orders in.
As one commenter wrote: ‘Anyone else wishing this wasn’t an April Fools??’
Miss: Jetstar’s customers aren’t laughing
For beleaguered Jetstar, any attempt at humour is naturally going to be met with resistance from customers who have received a poor experience. While Jetstar’s ‘Rest Assured’ prank was relatively harmless, the comments from angry customers aren’t.
As one customer wrote: “Lost my luggage by not putting the destination label on it. Ruined the entire weekend and took zero responsibility for your action. The response was an absolute joke. Make you question how they treat the other areas of their business. Don’t fly with these”
Still laughing, Jetstar?
Hit: Who Gives a Crap is flushed with toilet humour
For most brands, we would never recommend scraping the bottom of the laugh barrel with toilet humour. For a toilet paper brand, however, it’s the perfect fit.
So when Who Gives a Crap announced its decision to send its toilet paper to Uranus, we couldn’t help but laugh.
Miss: Inspired Unemployed don’t go far enough
For two Aussie mates known for their unique business ventures (who could forget their very real fragrance ‘fragrance INSPIRÉ by No. EMPLOI’?), the idea of the duo launching a multivitamin with Swisse doesn’t seem so far-fetched.
Inspired Unemployed are well known for taking things to the extreme, and the idea of the boys launching a multivitamin wasn’t quite extra enough to pull the rug out from under their follower’s feet.
Instead, it just left Aussies wondering where they could purchase their own tub of Instant Rizz Gummies.
If you’re looking for an agency to create memorable PR moments all year round (not just on April 1), get in touch with us today.
