Alison Head of Projects
Well, here we are, it’s already Spring, and with the lighter nights comes the month of April. As last week we all had a good laugh over the various April fools jokes which were roaming around the internet, we want to give you a giggle this month, so cast your eyes over our pick of food April fools from the past and the present… laugh away! Were you fooled?
Our Top Food April Fools:
Square eggs!
ITV’s Daybreak interviewed a farmer who rears chickens that lay square eggs! To make the feature more believable, the presenter held up a square egg and even managed to keep a straight face as he presented it to the audience. Their appeal was explained through a series of interviews, not only with the farmer, but also with café owners and kids having boiled square eggs for breakfast. After all, the feature explained, the shape makes it ‘convenient for eating’ and ‘making egg sarnies is even simpler.’ This really was a perfectly thought out and well presented food April fools!
The Left-handed burger!
Back in 1998, the fast-food chain Burger King announced a new left-handed Whopper in a stroke of marketing genius that really caught people’s attention. They approached their food April fools by commissioning a full-page ad in USA Today with ‘the condiments rotated 180 degrees’. The burger, it said, would be easier to hold for the 10 per cent of the population who are left-handed. Good sense and good taste, it seems, did not stop people across the US from heading out to purchase one!
The spaghetti harvest
Although we are seeing more April fools jokes around nowadays, they were also popular years back. In 1957, Richard Dimbleby lent his voice to a BBC Panorama program about Swiss farmers who were struggling to cope with ‘an exceptionally heavy spaghetti crop’ and people listened intently. CNN called it ‘the biggest hoax any reputable news establishment ever pulled’ as, after all, no one expected a news item to be a joke. Even the director-general of the BBC, Ian Jacob was taken in by this food April fools!
The ‘Just Crust’ Pizza!
Pizza Hut lovers were bemused to receive an email announcing the introduction of the first ‘just crust’ pizza. The email explained that this breaking news was in response to the popularity of the crust, so now, hut lovers can enjoy just that…Crust! No sauce, no cheese, no toppings – and no middle! There was something in there about curly hair too… It seemed like a joke, but until we knew it really was, this food April fool was a good one.
We all like to have a giggle, and adding humour to your brand is such a great way to show who you are to your customers as it brings out the fun in food. Making people smile through your branding will also make them feel at ease and more at one with what you have to offer – especially if you have a food business such as a restaurant or café where people come to sit, eat, and take in the ambience. If you want some guidance on how to inject humour into your brand, contact us here at Eat Marketing today; we’ll show you the best ways to sprinkle on the fun and make people smile. Call us today for a no obligation visit and get ready for some figure happy sales.
