#FakeNews is the bane of everyone all year long. Except on April 1.
If you’re a naturally mischievous person, April Fool’s is actually one of the best days of the year.
Communications people are often at the center of their brand’s pranks. Spending their days writing so many straight news stories and press releases, it’s just stupid fun to play the role of fantasist.
“April 1 is the day when actively misleading the maximum number of people on your company’s website and social channels is kosher, sanctioned and encouraged,” said Andrew Giangola, who oversees PR for Professional Bull Riders. “Let me stress it is only a limited, one-day phenomenon!”
This year PBR’s annual April Fool’s Day Joke played off another “historic” competition change.
In 2018, the league “announced“ on its web site that since fans were demanding more and more bull riding action, the length of a qualified ride would be extended from 8 to 16 seconds.
Many were up in arms. Injuries are already prevalent in PBR! You’re going to kill those Cowboys!
This year, it was another blockbuster-billed twist rolled out as a web story and series of social posts — mechanical bulls would be added to PBR competition.
Like the best Twilight Zone episodes, a great April Fool’s story ends with a good snappy twist. Even though PBR ended both stories with the debut’s bull name — “April Fool’s Day” — many were still duped.
One reporter contacted PBR for details of the exciting change including when the mechanical bulls will appear and how many new fans PBR hoped to attract with the bold move? Giangola had to gently ask him to please read the final graph of the release.
Despite the small number of fans who swallow the ruse hook, line and sinker, the lion’s share appear to love the jokes. PBR reports Monday’s #fakenews social posts significantly outperformed its usual posts by 4.7 times on Twitter and 2.7 times in Facebook.
The Instagram post from bull rider Ezekiel Mitchell, whose photo riding a mechanical bull outside of Staples Center when PR made its LA debut in late February was the league’s main image for the joke, also over performed.
PBR is a perfect brand for this tomfoolery – a bit on the rebel side and not afraid to take chances.
Some other good ones from Monday…
To celebrate their 100th anniversary season, the Chicago Bears claimed they were changing all of their uniform numbers to be three digits — adding a one in front of each player’s regular number.
The USTA had a lot of fun with what isn’t that crazy an idea, announcing they would feature puppies as ball-fetchers.
The Arizona Diamondbacks introduced a new food item called “The Churro Burger,” which, given the obsession over ballpark food, wasn’t really THAT far off.
Then we had Tom Brady announcing his retirement via his new mode of communication, Twitter, which is no joke given the amount of followers he picked up Monday.
The NHL had several teams go all in, with the Arizona Coyotes, announcing that defenseman and captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson was going to be the next bachelor. While Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba and friends decided to pull a trick on teammate Joel Eriksson Ek, covering every part of his Audi in thousands of sticky notes (color-coded).
Still, fake news is radioactive for some. PBR had asked its broadcast partner CBS — who on Monday announced a significant rights extension making the Tiffany Network the home of PBR until 2028 — to post the joke on their social channels. The network frequently shares PBR news but couldn’t touch this one. No legitimate outlet can push fake news, even on April 1.
Still, some fun all around if you have the right planning and pitch, and the continued growth of the social space makes the delivery global; something which the producer now controls when he or she speaks directly to the audience.
That power any day of the year is certainly no joke.
