Will AI Own April Fools' Day? The Best Piss-Take Campaigns of 2024 (2024)

April Fool’s Day has rarely been seen as the bastion of creative excellence. It’s not about pushing the envelope or creating something with emotional resonance though, it’s about giving people a quick belly laughs and reminding them that, behind the brand, there are human beings with actual senses of humour.

With that in mind, here are a few of the best April Fool’s gags from brands across the world from today (April 1^st, 2024), that tickled me the most.

Nintendo’s Virtual Boy Pro

Let’s start with easily my pick of the bunch. This ad sees Nintendo referencing not only the Apple Vision Pro but their ridiculously unsuccessful 90’s atrocity The Virtual Boy. The real crowning jewel here though is “Mario Kart Open Road.” Honestly, I won’t say any more here. Just watch it!

Doritos Milk

Forget your deep-fried Mars bar or peanut butter and jam sandwich, the latest crazy culinary combo doing the rounds is milk and crisps. Specifically, milk and Walkers Extra Flamin’ Hot crisps. Pepsico will be selling milk shots alongside its hot new flavour, available across the Walkers MAX, Doritos and Wotsits Crunchy range, as research reveals some Brits can’t handle the heat. The ‘Not Extra Flamin’ Hot Milk’ will hit the shelves today and will be on sale for “as long it takes for the British taste buds to mature to the spicy new favour”, according to head of brand innovation Dalila FopsRoy. I know it’s a joke but it’s actually not the worst idea in the world…

The World’s First Kebab Baby Food

Fast food chain Kebhouze used this special day to announce the launch of the world’s first kebab baby food, containing puréed chicken kebab meat. The press release reads: “Not just an extremely tasty treat, the ‘Kebaby Food’ purée is a nutritional powerhouse packed with essential vitamins, minerals, and protein to provide sustained energy for growing babies. The kebab innovators aim to raise the next generation of kebab fans by introducing iconic kebab flavours from an early age.” As somebody that’s partial to the odd doner kebab, I approve.

Duolingo on Ice

This one stands apart from many of the others here because of the sheer amount of effort put into it. After appearing in his first Super Bowl ad, it shows Duolingo brand mascot Duo the Owl setting his sights for stardom even higher with his own live theatrical show. “Duolingo on Ice” is billed as a “four-hour skating spectacle featuring Duo the Owl and his friends singing catchy songs in over 40 languages as they teach a series of language lessons – by any means necessary.” Genuinely ambitious stuff and pretty chuckle-worthy.

Gym Classes for the Fur Babies

London gym chain, Gymbox, announced its very first class for dogs, allowing gymgoers to bring their pet along with them. The launch comes alongside news that two-thirds of Brits spend more on their dogs than themselves, with Gen Z on top as the biggest spenders. The dog-only class, named Gymbarx, not only offers convenience to dog-owning gymgoers, but also gives them a chance to treat their furry friend with a fun and engaging class, packed with cleverly crafted exercises from fence jumps to fur-pees. It’s all a lot of silly puns and AI images but it’s cute and what can I say, I love doggos!

Peshwaris for Playstations

Electrics retailer Currys has launched a new service which swaps old devices and other unwanted tech for a spicy meal, as it encourages shoppers to exchange their e-waste for a curry. As part of the unorthodox recycling scheme,the tech retailer’scustomers canexchange old techfor a free curry as well as a voucher worth at least £5 to put towards their next purchase using the CurrysCash for Trashinitiative.The four curry options are Mixer Masala, Air Fried-Aloo, Crock Potato Vindaloo, and Currys’ Curry. Genius.

Three Person Bike for Throuples Anyone?

Monogamy may not be dead, but as 1 in 5 Brits identify as polyamorous, it’s safe to say throuples are on the rise. To celebrate this ‘new normal’, Swapfiets, the Dutch cycling company, announced the launch of the world's first three-person tandem bike subscription designed specifically for throuples. An idea that probably took about as much time to bring to life as it did to dream up but deserving of a mention, nonetheless.

Umlaut Satirises the Innate Dullness of B2B Marketing

Credit where credits’ due. When it comes to taking the piss out of yourself, this is a pretty spectacular way to do it. According to the ad above, starting today, you can finally bet on B2B marketing. BetOnB2B lets you place bets on everything B2B marketing, from placing a bet on the next AI buzzword to betting the over–under on how many squiggly futuristic lines will appear in a social post. This from a B2B video agency.

A Pretty Great Uranus Joke

Sustainable toilet paper brand Who Gives a Crap is sending a roll of toilet roll to Uranus; a world-first journey of approximately 2 billion miles to the largely unexplored planet (and the furthest a toilet roll has ever travelled!). While billionaires are busy chucking cars into space and taking their midlife crises to the moon, Who Gives a Crap is going where no toilet paper has gone before as it teams up with the aerospace industry’s boldest and brightest to explore a new frontier. Probably the best Uranus joke I’ve heard in years and a great brand that’s been doing some really innovative stuff with their marketing in recent months.

Is AI Taking Over April Fools?

Today’s April Fool’s ads all seems to point to one underlying theme – AI. While larger brands obviously have the resources to create more ambitious one-off campaigns, many of the images above from smaller brands (and countless more from the ads not featured) were obviously conjured up with Midjourney and, while it would be easy to scoff, in my eyes this is actually an ideal use for the technology. Quick, disposable content is what AI was made for. It will be interesting to see if the trend continues and we see even more complex and ambitious projects next year. See you all then!