Every year, as March comes to a close, I have to mentally prepare myself for the first day of April. Not only do friends, family, teachers, and classmates love to pull tricks in spirit of April Fools, but notable figures and brands have decided to fool their fans at concerts, via social media posts, and television programs. Here are some of the most creative and iconic April Fools Pranks pulled by brands and celebrities in recent years!Â
This past Wednesday, Dyson decided to take advantage of their famous hair product as a way to honor the holiday. The Dyson airwrap skyrocketed in popularity after an updated version of it was released in 2022. The tool manages to dry and style hair without a large amount of heat, all while creating a bouncy, voluminous look. The Dyson Instagram account released a video of what seemed like another standard advertisement for the airwrap, showing the back of someone’s head with long, silky, blown out hair. Once the salon chair fully rotated, it revealed that the luscious locks actually belonged to… a dog. The video then specified the introduction of a new Dyson product for animals named “Dyson Pet” showcasing a horse and a long-haired cat with professional-looking styled hair. The post was both a comical and creative way to celebrate April Fools alongside promoting their brand – although it is disappointing for pet owners who wanted their furry friends to have the same “fetching sheen” as the animals in the video.Â
A couple weeks before Game of Thrones’ final season premiered, Maisie Williams, one of the most notable faces from the show, made an appearance on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. Fans of the show had been highly anticipating the series’ last season. To this day, it is the most watched show created by HBO, with viewers tuning in each week to become immersed in the fantasy world. The cast and crew of the show knew about the anxiety fans were experiencing about what each new episode would bring, which brought about a great opportunity for an April Fools gimmick. When being interviewed by Jimmy Fallon, Maisie Williams mentioned that HBO had a strict rule for the actors of the show to not say anything in order to avoid spoilers. As she continued to talk about her experience with the final season and how emotional it was, she had a Freudian slip and stated that her character, Arya, died during the season. She gasped once she realized what her previous statement, with Jimmy Fallon also appearing shocked and stressed. The two of them quietly talk about how to solve the issue – Jimmy clarified that they can edit out the spoiler, but Maisie was extremely concerned about if the audience members were going to spread her slip all over social media, all while tearing up out of stress. She ran out of her interview chair and behind one of the curtains on set. Jimmy chased after her, trying to get her to come out – just for the two of them to go jump out yelling “April Fools!”. The timing of Game of Thrones’s release was perfect for an April Fools prank that was both terrorizing yet funny. Anyone who views the show was aware of how talented Maisie Williams is as an actress, but she took this opportunity to show once again her ability to portray a scripted scenario.Â
Sabrina Carpenter is iconic for her witty sense of humor, especially when she incorporates it into her live performances. She has created comedic bits that she switches up at each of her shows when on tour, such as her “Juno” positions, arresting famous audience members for “being too hot”, and the spontaneous outros she comes up with when performing the song “Nonsense”. The “Nonsense” outros were one of her earliest experimentations at switching up parts of her performances for each location. She performs the popular song, and then after she finishes the last lyrics, she comes up with an outro that relates to whatever city she is in, incorporating her cheeky, sexual humor. On April 1st, 2023, while on her “Emails I Can’t Send” tour, she themed her outro after the city she was performing in – and the date. “Put your hands up if you live in Salt Lake; How do you get alcohol on Sundays; I’m pregnant! Happy April Fools Day.” While she quickly retracted her pregnancy claim, the audience’s volume went down completely the second they heard the fake announcement. It was the most Sabrina Carpenter-esque approach possible to celebrate April Fools.Â
SNL already has plenty of potential for live character breaks, costume malfunctions, or set screw ups to make the already funny program even more entertaining. April Fools brings upon the opportunity for cast members to play tricks on each other as a way to capture genuine reactions on air. Also on April Fools in 2023, Weekend Update star Michael Che came up with a way to confuse his co-host, Colin Jost. The two of them went back and forth reading their scripts, with the audience being audibly more expressive for Michael Che’s jokes. They were laughing louder for longer periods of time in comparison to after Jost’s jokes were delivered. A few minutes into the segment, Che burst out laughing and finally admitted “I told them not to laugh at you for April Fools”. Everyone in the room burst out laughing, and Jost admitted the difference in reaction from the audience made him think that either his mic was not on, or his jokes just sucked.Â
One of the best ways to deal with an untrue rumor is to acknowledge it through humor. One of the best ways for a company to create an April Fools Prank is to promote an outlandish fake product. The fragrance company Sol De Janeiro decided to combine both of these attributes to poke fun at a rumor circling about one of their scents. In 2023, a Sephora review claiming that the Fragrance 59 Body Butter attracted wolf spiders went viral, having customers and arachnophobes alike freaking out. These claims were quickly debunked, since there is no ingredient in the product that would be able to attract spiders. For April Fools in 2024, Sol De Janeiro decided to reference the claims by promoting a fake product themed after the infamous rumors. On Instagram, they posted an advertisement for body mist number eight and a body butter named “Arahna Spider Salve”. The lotion included a spider-attracting feature and can hydrate up to eight legs. The fragrance notes were quite woodsy to say the least, including cobweb dust, spider musk, and fern frond. The post was a fantastic way to poke fun at a once stressful situation while bringing the brand more notoriety.Â
Similar to Halloween costumes and Christmas gifts, April Fools pranks can only improve year after year. The past decade has been full of hilarious gags, and there will only be more and more in the future that will most likely convince gullible people like myself.Â