April Fools’ Day Marketing Pranks Gone Wrong (and Right)

By Megan Quinn

On April Fools’ Day, brands as large as Google put their marketing prank skills to the test. Some jokes were up to par, but for others, it was a swing and a miss. Below I’ve compiled the only guide you need to the 2016 April Fools’ Day marketing missteps and victories.

Google’s Mic Drop Minion

Let’s start with one of the worst. Google’s "Drop The Mic" animated gif of one of the beloved minion characters from the Despicable Me movie franchise was added to Gmail in place of the ‘send’ and ‘archive’ buttons, attaching the gif to sent mail. In concept, I’m sure the idea seemed cute. However, this proved to be in poor taste for people who sent more serious emails such as prayer requests and resumes for job interviews.

After much backlash, Google felt terrible about the whole ordeal and issued an apology reversing the feature. To be fair, an initial warning did pop up, but it proved to be futile.

“Well, it looks like we pranked ourselves this year. Due to a bug, the MicDrop feature inadvertently caused more headaches than laughs. We’re truly sorry. The feature has been turned off. If you are still seeing it, please reload your Gmail page,” Google explained.

Time hop to the future

This was one of the best. Instead of showing users their past social media posts, Timehop’s app produced several fake future posts — and they’re amazing.

One predicted Facebook post from 2039 reads, “Impressed by President Kanye’s socioeconomic knowledge and policies…” And another showcased a 2025 Instagram post of a “Fast & Furious 17” poster (which is not out of the question at this point).

The prank posts, which looked exactly like typical Timehop posts, made plenty of lofty predictions too. One Facebook post from 2025 says, “Filed my taxes via Snapchat for the first time, WHAT A RUSH!”

This year’s prank predictions seemed not to be too far out of reach (minus President Kanye West), but for Timehop regulars, don’t worry — your usual past social media posts can be found below the app’s April Fools’ jokes.

#AerieMan Campaign

Aerie’s April Fools’ Day attempt was a major head-scratcher. After the company had recently started to make strides with unretouched female models, Aerie announced that this should also apply to male models. The Internet freaked out accordingly, but with thunderous applause.

So it came as a major disappointment to find out that their #AerieMan campaign was nothing but a parody launched to raise awareness about body diversity. The brand had become a major positive body image advocate, and now they were making fun of it. Their message was certainly mixed and it felt like a poorly executed PR move.

American Eagle Outfitters, Aerie’s parent company issued a press release on Friday for the big reveal. "American Eagle Outfitters proves once again they're not afraid to take a risk and have a laugh in support of a good cause.”

"This announcement marks the brand's pledge to forego retouching its male models in its underwear and swim images beginning holiday 2016." Furthermore, "American Eagle Outfitters has donated $25,000 to NEDA, a non-profit that supports those affected by eating disorders and an ongoing partner with Aerie," they proclaimed.

While their donation and pledge are commendable, it left many wondering why this was parody at all. Why did the campaign have to be a parody in order to raise awareness?

Quilted Northern ‘Made to be remembered’

Quilted Northern said on Friday that it would release the first small batch toilet paper, Quilted Northern Rustic Weave. The joke included a transformation of QuiltedNorthern.com, social media and the addition of deadpanned video commercials for the big reveal.

"The demand for simple, handcrafted, heritage products is stronger than ever, but no toilet paper satisfies this growing sector," a company press release states. "The teams quickly realized that in order to create the next breakthrough innovation, they needed to go back to the drawing board to create something more bespoke."

Luckily, this well-executed April Fools’ prank will never become a reality. The company used the prank as a platform to launch its real Mega Roll products. On Twitter, along with a short video, the company announced, “Artisanal bath tissue seemed like a great idea. Then we tried it. Now we're happy to introduce new Mega Roll instead.”

Which April Fools’ pranks were your favorite? Which pranks left you guessing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

New Google Features Help PR Pros Keep Up With Growing Trends

Posted by Amanda Walsh

The Furia Rubel team wants to share some news about interesting search tools from Google with ThePRLawyer audience.

Google Realtime search allows you to look for results in Google as they are happening. The search compiles results from Twitter, Facebook, blog posts, and websites to give you real time content that is live and continuously updated. The user can also specify the location of where the news is coming from. For example, the keyword “Obama” can be narrowed down to view only the keywords produced from a specific city or state. Many times you can find breaking news before major news outlets have the opportunity to release them. This is a great marketing tool for any brand or business that wants to stay on top of breaking news or crisis communications.

Another feature from Google is the new YouTube Channel, the Google beat, which brings updates of the latest weekly trends in Google searches within the U.S. The video, formatted in a news-style way give a rundown of the latest search trends. For example, this week “Hurricane Earl” and “Paris Hilton” were two huge search terms.

These two new features from the search giant raise some interesting food for thought - Is Google trying to compete with Twitter in the department of trending topics? The popular micro-blogging service presents real-time updates of news from around the world and can be narrowed down by keyword.

It seems lately that Google is moving in the Twitter-based, newsfeed direction with their recent feature rollouts. The Google beat, YouTube channel, also brought to my attention other tools that Google offers such as Google Trends, Hot Trends, and Google Insights for Search. The Year-end Zeitgeist feature is the most interesting to me because it provides a snapshot of the year in search trends. All of these provide the user the ability to check out what is hot right now or what have been the top search trends over an entire year.

As technology and features from Google continue to grow, we continue to build archives of our culture. With an archive reaching back to 2001, anyone can see the gaining and declining trends of that year.

Again, searching trends and these new features from Google can be very useful for professionals in the marketing and public relations industry to keep an eye on the changing trends across the country.

(Photo credit: Google.com)

Take it to the 212th Degree: The Power of Positive Thinking and Viral Videos

Posted by Gina Rubel

This video is spreading virally over the Internet and is absolutely brillant. If you do nothing else today, definitely check it out. It’s fabulous and speaks volumes about the importance of positive thinking.

My staff and I felt extremely empowered after watching it. We hope PRLawyer readers will as well.

Click here: 212 The Extra Degree Movie - NC1

Web 2.0 for Today's Generation of Lawyers

Last week I was published in The Legal Intelligencer with an article titled: Web 2.0 for Today's Generation of Lawyers. In the article, I explain to reader that:

The majority of today's "next generation" of lawyers graduated from high school in the late '90s or early 2000s. These are the "children of the Web." You likely had e-mail, iPods, text messaging, MySpace and Facebook profiles and access to the World Wide Web all before graduating from college. But this isn't so for the rest of us. Many seasoned attorneys have never listened to a podcast, still don't use e-mail, don't know the difference between the terms YouTube and Boob Tube, and believe the words "social networking" refers to cocktail parties and black-tie galas.

If you're a member of the "next generation" (aka a young lawyer), then you need to understand the "old way of doing things" so you can begin to adopt Web 2.0 in a way that is not offensive to your corporate culture. On the other hand, if you graduated from law school in the age DOS applications or typewriters, listen up. You need to get with the times or be left behind.

I go on to explain blogs, RSS feed, Google alerts, social media and more. To read the full text of the article, go to http://www.law.com/jsp/pa/PubArticlePA.jsp?hubtype=TopStories&id=1202425053120

Viral Communications: Blogging, Rofo and HARO

Dean Guadagni of Domus Consulting Group; Inner Architect Media in San Rafael, CA share’s my cousin, Peter Furia’s YouTube video for Rofo.com



Guadagni shares how Peter pitched him to blog about this video including some great background information on Peter. Well done.

In my opinion, viral marketing MUST be included in your communications plan if your company has a Web presence. Not all viral marketing should include stunts, pranks and spoofs – especially for the more conservative B2B folks. But when done right, the return on your viral investment will far surpass traditional advertising.

Another great resource for viral communications is Peter Shankman’s book, Can We Do That?! Outrageous PR Stunts That Work and Why Your Company Needs Them. Peter also launched Help A Reporter (http://www.helpareporter.com/) which connects journalists with the sources they require using a social media platform. HARO (Help A Reporter Out) is already over 12,000 members and growing, and has a growing stable of national journalists using the service on a daily basis. I know tons of people in the public relations industry who subscribe. You should too.

There is no denying social media has altered the rules and tactics of marketing and communication strategies worldwide. Katy Thorbahn, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Philadelphia office of Avenue A Razorfish, believes that a “major shift is occurring - the rise of social media is creating a new form of marketing altogether, called Social Influence Marketing (SIM).”

In the May/June issue of AD NEWS, Thorbahn explains in her Think Social Influence Marketing article that it is about employing social media as part of the entire lifecycle of a marketing campaign, even beyond the campaign.

Here are some of Thorbahn’s “must know” details on social media development:

• Social Influence Marketing is the third dimension of marketing: SIM requires new strategies, rules and tactics; and in the long run will harbor a stronger affect on purchasing behavior than direct response and brand marketing.
• Advertising on your consumer’s terms: SIM is also about engaging with consumers on their terms – where they want to and in a language and format of their choosing. By doing so, it will allow companies to participate in the online conversations.
• Social networks matter more than websites: Consumers are continuing to spend most of their time on social networks. Companies need to crate a strategic development plan to integrate a new website, product or marketing campaign with key social networks.
• Engagement metrics come to the forefront: Much of the web’s success as a marketing platform is driven by its ability to capture strong metrics. New measurement models and corresponding tools will be needed to track whether Social Influence Marketing is having a stronger effect on the purchasing cycle than brand marketing or direct response.
• SIM can broaden consumer influence: SIM is going to affect how organizations innovate, develop ideas, recruit, measure performance and interact with all their constituents (customers, employees, partners, shareholders, etc.) because only by changing the organizations from the inside out, will companies be authentic when talking to the outside world.

For more of Thorbahn’s “must know” details on social media development, go to her article, Think Social Influence Marketing.

The Gratitude Campaign - Thank a Soldier Today

The Gratitude Campaign... have you heard about it yet? If not, check out this amazing public relations awareness video. It's about saying thank you to all the men and women who serve our country.



Can you only imagine if we were able to thank all the parents, spouses, children, other family members and friends of those who have fallen? It is to them I say, "we remember."

Bill Gates Public Relations Brilliance at It's Best: From Gina Rubel

Okay, so this morning, my husband e-mailed me a link to Bill Gates Last Day CES Clip. It's a seven minute video spoof (toast or roast -- as you will) of Bill Gate's supposed last day at Microsoft which was aired earlier this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The video is public relations brilliance at it's best. . . and what money can buy! I can only imagine how much this video must have cost. It's star studded with Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Brian Williams, Matthew McConaughey, George Clooney, Bono of U-2, Steven Spielberg and Jay-Z! Wow. Now that's power to say the least.

Here's what some others are saying about the video:

Reel Pop (Steve Bryant): http://www.reelpopblog.com/2008/01/what-will-bill.html#trackback

Wired (Jose Fermoso): http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/01/ces-2008-bill-g.html

e-Week (Joe Wilcox): http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/corporate/bill_gates_last_day_at_microsoft.html

Seattle Post (Monica Guzman): http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/128984.asp?source=mypi