By Kaden Boock
Every year when April Fools’ Day rolls around, a lot of big brands take it as their time to shine and have a bit of fun with their consumers. This year’s April Fools’ Day was no different, and several prominent brands took an attempt at pranking their consumers with new features to their products, different variations of popular food items, and new TV shows. Although not many pranks were too convincing, a few had consumers wanting the prank to be real because it actually seemed like a great idea, while others were too ridiculous to even be believable for a second. Here are some of the highlights ranging from cringy and undesirable to having some potential in this April Fools’ day 2023 prank round up.
Welch’s Ranchfuls
The popular Welch’s fruit snacks announced on Instagram that they were releasing a new ranch flavor made with 100% real buttermilk and ranch dressing in the center. The comments were obviously filled with people horrified at the combination, and hoping that it was indeed an April Fools joke, while there were actually a couple individuals saying they would try this flavor if it went to shelves as well. The product was presented with a farm backdrop and several fruits that were exploding with ranch, while every bite was advertised as “bursting with zesty flavor.”
Tinder Fish Ban
The dating app Tinder chose to finally crack down on the pictures that individuals upload to their dating profiles with them holding fish this April Fools’ Day by declaring the app’s new fish ban. “Tinder will immediately remove all fish pics from member profiles.” Many people say that having a fishing picture in your dating profile is a red flag or automatic swipe left, so it’s no surprise that there were a lot of Tinder users wishing the prank could somehow be legitimate. One user commented, “We can all dream.”
Heinz Ketchup and Down Bottle
Heinz ketchup pranked their consumers by releasing a newly structured bottle design where the ketchup can be dispensed from the top or the bottom of the bottle with caps on each side. Some viewed this as innovative because it clears the debate on whether to store ketchup bottles up or down, however it is also simply a prank so don’t plan to find it next time you go shopping.
Post It Stick N’ Smell
Post-it joined in on the fun by announcing a new kind of Post-it with a variety of scents attached to them. The prank featured the ocean, flowers, and oranges as a few of the scents in the package, and Post-it wrote, “Wish you could smell these through the screen,” in their prank announcement while also including several April Fools’ Day hashtags to clue their consumers in on the joke. Many people loved this concept however, and campaigned for it to become a real thing in the comments with one individual commenting, “First words out of my mouth were: TELL ME THIS IS TRUE!”
Duolingo’s New Show “Love Language” Coming to Peacock
The language learning app Duolingo announced that they would be coming out with a reality TV show called “Love Language” that would stream through Peacock. The concept for the show was a group of single individuals looking for love, but none of them speak the same language. They even released a trailer for the show featuring well known stars from other reality TV dating shows, including Francesca Farago from “Too Hot to Handle” and “Perfect Match.” Although many people were intrigued by the concept of the show and showed their interest, Duolingo is unfortunately not joining the reality TV world.
