The Australian Macadamias team in Japan executed a fabulous April Fools’ Day brand hoax that had everyone laughing, while delivering seriously good results.
After the success of last year’s April Fools’ Day nut-cracking squirrel, this year saw the launch of a “new product” in the form of a “Macadamia Bonsai Kit” that came complete with a mini macadamia farmer called Mac A. Damia, and a miniature selection of his favourite farming tools!
The joke was designed to tap into Japanese consumers’ strong interest in the macadamia growing story, and generated excellent reach on our own channels, (take a look at our Japanese website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) as well as additional exposure on a variety of Japanese news and lifestyle sites, including Getnews, Gigazine, Naver Matome, and Smart News.
The activity generated impressive reach of 1.1 million page views across all platforms.
April Fools’ Day brand hoaxes have become a popular marketing tactic, with big-name brands such as McDonalds, Airbnb and Doritos all rolling out fantastic pranks this year. Done well, these executions create considerable media buzz and goodwill among consumers.
Congratulations to our team in Japan for creating another fabulously funny April Fools’ Day stunt.