April Fools' Day 2026: Rinse and repeat

April Fools' activations have long been seen as an opportunity for brands and agencies to flex their creative with the potential for a significant boost in brand love and consideration for a standout stunt.

Today, the releases from various brands show that the bar is significantly higher for work that will elicit more than an eyebrow raise, and that the same old tongue-in-cheek innovations, collaborations and crossover concepts won’t cut it.

Genuinely surprising and perception-shifting activations have been hard to come by. 

KitKat, revealing that 12 tonnes of product had been stolen from a lorry in Italy with a light-hearted statement, seemed to be setting up for a big reveal this morning, but the brand has promised it isn’t a joke and asked for consumers’ help to find the stolen product. The industry’s conviction that this was a stunt underlines the scale and noise that brands now need to create to genuinely get people talking.

Ryanair

For a take on the mood this year, it’s worth a look at Ryanair’s promise to adopt a ‘more corporate and professional communication style’.

Rather than going big for the day, the brand has decided to cash in on its year-round reputation for bold and playful creative. Brands everywhere are making the outrageous businesses as usual, so it’s little surprise that April Fools' Day is feeling like a damp squib in comparison this year.

Perhaps it’s time to ask whether these stunts have passed their best-before date.

Recipe for a winner

I wouldn’t say April Fools' is dead yet, rather the bar has been raised, and creatives should interrogate their ideas carefully before hitting post.

The first thing to ask is pretty simple. Why are we doing it? 

If it’s just to join in, chase a bit of engagement or try to win the day, it usually shows. But if there’s a genuinely smart idea in there, something that fits the brand, feels tonally right and is sharp, then why not take a shot?

Something that’s always stuck with me for a slightly different reason was Land Rover’s ‘Transparent Bonnet’ tech. When they launched it, people genuinely thought it was an April Fools' joke. But it wasn’t. It was real. Cameras and a display make the bonnet disappear so you can see the terrain underneath.

The product or innovation was so good, that it tipped into disbelief. It just felt too good to be true, and they played that perfectly.

There’s probably something in that. If your idea, product or message is strong enough, you don’t need an April Fools'—you just need to present it well enough that people question it.

But in our positions as creative leaders, it’s not about slamming stuff for no reason.

I lead a team of hungry, ambitious creatives and it should feel like a bit of a playground. It’s a chance, especially for juniors, to take a swing, try something and get their name on something.

If it makes someone smile and gets a brand talked about in a new place or via a new audience, there’s something in that. 

So, when you strip it back, why not? Just make sure the idea’s good.