Last year maybe we have had enough of fake news, because April Fools Day, at least on the sports side, was certainly toned down compared to recent years. This year though some athletes…Tom Brady again…a little LeBron James, The Buffalo Bills with alternate uniforms, and the most viral was now retired womens soccer star Carli Lloyd spoofing fans with her own unretirement…the best was FIBA which went to great lenghts to deliver some fun (good recap here via ESPN).
While none really broke the internet, there have been several that really scored over the years, here is a a look back at some of the more creative stuntss…btw how did no boxing organization take on the Chris Rock-Will Smith slap as a cause and opportunity?
NASCAR driver Aric Almirola hawked Smithfield Brands new “Bacon Crisp Cereal”. While with the (then) New Orleans Pelicans Anthony Davis, sent a video in which he appears to shave his famous eyebrow with a giant Red Bull towel dominating the frame. The Jacksonville Jaguars fake-tweeted a new uniform, a stunt that backfired among some fans who liked the faux duds more than the team’s actual uniforms.
One of the best in 2017 saw former NFL star Randy Moss “announce” he was joining the USL the Charlotte Independence, dressed in his blue kit with the No. 84 on the back and donning bright yellow gloves just in time for the team’s home opener that weekend.
One year the New York Islanders pretended to forfeit a game and save their travel time to the Minnesota North Stars by announcing on air that they were “mailing in” the two points and not showing up, something which people say some NBA teams have actually done for a regular season game or two the last few years. Then there was the legendary Sidd Finch, created by George Plimpton and the folks at Sports Illustrated. Sidd’s story, on the cover of SI, became the stuff of legend and was quite believable for the short time, and lives on in video form even today, along with Plimpton’s expanded book on the topic.
In 2003, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban got into a shoving match with a phony NBA official during a timeout. Cuban, never one to shy away from controversy, was poking fun at himself for being fined repeatedly for his complaints about NBA officiating. A Mavericks equipment manager restrained Cuban during the fake fight, drawing cheers from the crowd and even a few laughs from the real officials at the game. The Mavericks’ players weren’t in on the April Fools’ Day prank, so Dallas reserve center Evan Eschmeyer rushed to help restrain the man who signs his checks.
One brand that also did a good job to seize the opportunity, although more tongue in cheek, to use April 1 as a platform for sports promotion and to have a little fun. Pirate Brands announced that the New York Mets had “traded” star third baseman David Wright to…well, the Pirates. The press release and all the great digital platforms around it went out on the 31st, and generated some fun buzz and great images for the move, which was essentially a dry announcement about Wright joining the company’s board and getting an equity stake with the group (although they created healthy snack alternatives for kids and worked with Wright’s Foundation). Still, they made something that was not much into something, using the April Fools platform. There was also a nice college push by LSU several years ago to announce they were turning the turf at Tiger Stadium purple, all equipped with a secret, faster formula to give the football team an even added edge. Great exposure, until the joke came up.
In 2018, Sean Gleason, CEO of the PBR, informed fans via Facebook last year that the league has been growing so fast it was going to give them even more bang for the buck by doubling the amount of time required for every qualified ride from 8 to 16 seconds, well, the story seemed downright believable to many.
In the spirit of famed former New York electronics retailer, Krazy Eddie, running his Christmas Campaign in August, the league decided to capture fans’ attention by going extra early with its “bull” on Friday, March 30. Gleason teed up a legitimate web story, and in many quarters, all hell broke loose among fans caught completely off guard.
We are steadily getting back to normal, but April Fools pranks take time and thought in a world which is still rushing to get things right…still it is a great day to have some fun as evidenced by best practices of years past…
