April Fool’s Day 2025: top stunts and jokes from brands
From Cadbury launching goo sachets to Birds Eye finally revealing what happens to waffle holes, here are the gags that really got us this year.
Ikea's new two-kilometer-long store / Ikea
A straight shot to meatballs: IKEA’s new store ditches the maze
In a bold (and deeply linear) move, IKEA announced plans for a two-kilometer-long store designed to be “impossible to get lost in.” Ditching its famously twisty floor plans, the new concept store features a straight-shot layout with one entry, one exit, and a hop-on, hop-off travelator to reduce walking fatigue.
The tongue-in-cheek announcement comes in response to customer complaints — and at least one incident involving a confused shopper and a bin of toy snakes. “We have noticed that more and more visitors of our stores resort to GPS on their phones to find their way around,” said Tolga Öncü, Ingka Retail Manager. “This was, of course, a concern for us, as they spent more time looking at their phones than at our products. So, our solution is to build a store that is impossible to get lost in.” Whether it's satire or strategy, IKEA’s April Fools’ Day prank once again proves they know exactly how to guide customer attention — even in a straight line.
Duolingo’s five-year cruise goes overboard
Duolingo set sail on April Fools’ Day with the launch of the Duolingo World Cruise — a five-year global voyage in partnership with Carnival Cruise Line, packed with language immersion, cultural experiences, and reportedly, an unreasonable amount of shrimp. The satirical cruise promises guests will “speak like a local” at every port, from Spain to Japan. While the full five-year trip isn’t exactly bookable, fans can still score a free month of Super Duolingo, themed merch, and cruise discounts — no bucket hat required.
BODYARMOR hits the showers with NHL-backed sports shampoo
Just in time for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, BODYARMOR is branching out from hydration to hair care with the launch of its Sports Performance Shampoo — a better-for-you formula designed to hydrate, strengthen, and volumize those famous hockey-flow locks. Developed with Great Clips and backed by NHL stars like Connor McDavid and Matthew Tkachuk, the shampoo promises real ingredients, no artificial dyes, and the perfect blend of electrolytes and vitamins for high-performance hair. It’s absurd, on-brand, and available (supposedly) nationwide starting April 1.
Sip happens: Josh Cellars designs wine-stained furniture
Wine lovers, rejoice — Josh Cellars and Joss & Main have teamed up to solve one of life's most relatable problems: spilled wine on the couch. In a perfectly cheeky April Fools’ Day stunt, the brands announced a new home collection featuring furniture with built-in wine stains. The stylish sofas and chairs proudly embrace the inevitable, turning accidental splotches into intentional design — because if you can’t beat the spill, you might as well sip and sit in style.
Currys: The De-Boner
The world’s first fully automated chicken wing de-boning machine is exclusively available at Currys. Developed by Philips, this innovative product is a game-changer for both consumers and businesses in the food service industry, making wing prep cleaner, faster and more efficient than ever before.
The De-Boner strips every bit of meat off the bone in seconds, reducing waste and saving valuable time. It’s the perfect solution for restaurants, catering services and home cooks who want to streamline their wing preparation process.
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How do you eat yours? On the goo!
After years of celebrating all the deliciously diverse ways in which the nation devours its Creme Eggs, Cadbury has launched an ingenious product that unlocks all sorts of revolutionary answers to ‘How Do You Eat Yours?’
'On The Goo' sachets. These condiment companions allow you to drizzle, squidge and squirt the iconic goo on to any dish you desire.
Josh Collier, brand manager at Cadbury Creme Egg, said: “The condiment game is changed forever. Nothing compares to goo!!”
The work was developed in partnership with the creative agency Elvis.
Terry’s Chocolate Mint Toothpaste.
This groundbreaking toothpaste offers the unmistakable flavor of Terry’s Chocolate Mint in a silky-smooth, enamel-building formula that’s safe to swallow. It’s a game-changer for the one in 10 Brits who want more ways to enjoy the flavor.
Consumer research inspired the idea, which found that 20% of Gen Z and Millennials would love to try Terry’s Chocolate Mint Toothpaste. After rigorous testing, the brand has made that dream a reality.
Guardio’s AI-powered scam-sniffing nose
Cybersecurity just got a whiff of absurdity. Guardio dropped a stinker (in the best way) this April Fools’ Day with SniffGuard – the world’s first AI-powered scam-detecting nose. Shaped like one of the classic plastic noses (minus the fake mustache), this olfactory sniffer claims to detect crypto wallet traps, fake giveaways, romance scams, and more – all thanks to its proprietary SniffGPT technology. The gag ends with a wink, “SniffGuard isn’t real, but scams are”, and a nudge to try Guardio’s real-life protection.
Boots Opticians’ unique way to protect your eyes on holiday
Boots Opticians launched the UK’s first fully UV-protected airline!
At 30,000ft, UV levels are up to twice as high due to a thinner atmosphere and cloud reflection, meaning our eyes could be at risk of UV damage before we even hit the beach this summer. So say goodbye to window seat squinting and take in the views from the plane through the fully UV-protected cabin windows.
Dollar Shave Club unveils… a mirror for your balls
Dollar Shave Club has always been pretty fearless about what goes on below the belt – and this April Fool’s Day, it has gone full frontal. Meet The Ball Mirror: a shiny new entry into the world of Nether-Tech™, designed for “maximum precision, total clarity, and an unparalleled below-the-belt experience.” Yep, it’s exactly what it sounds like. Part prank, part product tease, part weirdly practical? Who’s to say? Fans could enter a sweepstakes for a chance to snag one, with winners announced on April 1. Razor-sharp marketing, as always.
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Lubella’s pasta-flavored macarons
This year, Feeders – part of by The Network – helped pasta brand Lubella unveil Macaroni Macarons – a bizarre fusion of French patisserie and classic Italian comfort food. Instead of raspberry or coffee, these macarons promised flavors like spaghetti bolognese, pesto fusilli and mac ’n’ cheese. It was a cheeky nod to food mashups and Lubella’s pasta dominance in Poland, proving that even the most absurd ideas can capture attention and spark conversation.
Cruisebound’s Hush Cruise
Cruisebound, an online cruise booking platform, unveiled Hush Cruises – the world’s first exclusively silent cruise line (or so it would like you to believe). The faux cruise line promises muted voyages through the Great Lakes aboard slightly refurbished 1970s ocean liners, complete with a strict no-talking policy, silent dining (no clinking of silverware here), gesture-only trivia and excursions to thrillingly quiet destinations like Gary, Indiana. It’s ridiculous, hilarious – and exactly the kind of prank that gets people talking, even if the cruise won’t let you.
“For us, April Fool’s Day is less about the prank and more about the pause,” explains Cruisebound’s head of content, Anna Ward. “With Hush Cruises, we leaned into the absurd to spark curiosity – but the real goal was to leave travelers thinking, ‘Wait… is this a thing?’ Great marketing doesn’t just make people laugh – it makes your brand stick, so when they’re ready to book, they know where to go.”
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Dairylea Brunchers
A unique spin on the classic Dairylea Lunchers, which are loved and cherished by many millennials. This generation has now become obsessed with ‘brunching’ at the weekends, so in partnership with creative agency Elvis, the brand revealed a new Dairylea product that taps into this food occasion.
The Dairylea Brunchers will include perfectly rounded mini-fried eggs, square portions of avocado, miniature English muffins and the iconic Dairylea Triangle. This can be served alongside a miniature iced coffee and salt and pepper sachets for a truly elevated experience and a touch of nostalgia.
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Birds Eye launches Potato Waffholes!
There’s something deeply human about our need to solve life’s great mysteries. Where do missing socks go? Why does toast always land butter side down? And, of course, where do the waffle holes go? For years, people have pondered this existential question, some assuming the holes vanished into the void, others whispering about a top-secret underground waffle facility. Birds Eye produces over one million potato waffles every day, which means there are 7bn waffle holes unaccounted for… so, where are they??
The mystery has finally been solved. Birds Eye’s April Fool’s Day stunt saw it reveal its latest innovation: Potato Waffholes.