April Fools’ Day, celebrated annually on April 1, has become a playground for brands chasing laughs and eyeballs, turning the unofficial holiday into a full-blown marketing spectacle.
Past years delivered some memorable bites. In 2024, Sonic and Moe’s Southwest Grill teamed up for the Queso Slush, billed as “the frozen goodness of a SONIC Slush meets the delicious flavor of Moe’s Famous Queso.” Ads showed a tall, creamy glass garnished with jalapeño and tortilla chips, complete with the disclaimer “*not a real product.”
In 2022, Omaha Steaks rolled out “The Meat Sweats Perspirant” in three barbecue-inspired scents — Mesquite, Beef, and Lighter Fluid — promising “24 Hours of Mesquite Aroma,” “24 Hours of Beefy Aroma” or “24 Hours of Lighter Fluid Aroma” in sleek black roll-on bottles.
And in 2025, Nestle Crunch introduced its “quietest bar ever,” made with boiled white rice for “75% less noise.”
The BBC has even joined in on the fun on occasion. In 1957, it ran footage of Swiss workers pulling strands of pasta off trees, reporting a booming pasta harvest in Switzerland following the eradication of the “spaghetti weevil.” In 2008, the media company presented a “documentary” showing a recently discovered colony of flying penguins.
The stunts fit right into a tradition that stretches back centuries, even if its exact beginnings are fuzzy. Some historians trace April Fools’ Day to 1582, when France adopted the Gregorian calendar and moved New Year’s Day from around April 1 to January 1. Those who kept celebrating the old way earned the label “April fools” and got paper fish slapped on their backs — “poisson d’avril,” a symbol of gullibility.
Others link it to ancient Rome’s Hilaria festival at the end of March, when people donned disguises and mocked everyone from neighbors to officials, or to the unpredictable spring weather of the vernal equinox, which seemed to play tricks on everyone.
By the 18th century, the custom had crossed the English Channel and taken root in Britain. In Scotland, it stretched into a two-day affair: “hunting the gowk” sent victims on fake errands, followed by Tailie Day, when pranksters pinned fake tails or “kick me” signs on unsuspecting backsides.
The spirit crossed the Atlantic and evolved into the media-age prank fest we know today, where newspapers, TV networks, and corporations compete to see who can fool the public the longest.
Some of the best have become legends. In 1996, Taco Bell bought full-page newspaper ads announcing that it had purchased the Liberty Bell and renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell to help trim the national debt.
“While some may find this controversial, we hope our move will prompt other corporations to take similar action to do their part to reduce the country’s debt,” the ad declared.
The chain promised the historic site would remain open to visitors, but thousands still flooded Taco Bell’s headquarters and the National Park Service with angry calls before the company confessed.
Burger King went literal in 2008 with the Left-Handed Whopper. Full-page ads and press releases explained that the new sandwich rotated all the condiments 180 degrees, “thereby redistributing the weight of the sandwich so that the bulk of the condiments will skew to the left, thereby reducing the amount of lettuce and other toppings from spilling out the right side of the burger.”
Plenty of customers asked for the special order before the chain admitted it was all in fun.
Even earlier, in 1994, PC Computing Magazine columnist John Dvorak reported that Congress was considering an internet bill to ban drunk driving on the information superhighway.
“Congress apparently thinks that being drunk on a highway is bad no matter what kind of highway it is,” Dvorak wrote.
Capitol Hill switchboards lit up with concerned callers until readers realized the date.
Not every April Fools’ announcement is fake. Dunkin’ is leaning into the day’s trust issues with a genuine offer: 1,000,001 free coffees for Rewards members.
“Last April Fools’, we gave away a million free coffees, and some of you thought it was a prank. We didn’t forget that,” the company said. “So this year, we’re doing it again. Just a little bigger.” Customers open the app, enter the code “StillNotAJoke” on April 1, and claim their free cup — no tricks, just coffee.
That experience would be even better if Traeger’s AI joke were actually a real product. The company has pitched “MEAT-AI Grilling Glasses” for its 2026 prank, complete with a Heads-Up Display projecting temperature and time, thermal-imaging Doneness Detection, “Meat Vision” for perfect cuts, Recipe Radar that scans your fridge and cabinets, night-vision Sear in the Dark capability, and built-in photo and video to Capture Your Cooks.
Whether it’s a queso-slush hoax, meat-scented deodorant, a silent candy bar, or smart grilling specs that stay fictional, the day keeps proving one thing: on April 1, the only safe bet is to expect the unexpected — and maybe check the fine print.
