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The Top 8 #AprilFools Emails

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April Fools Emails

April Fools’ Day is one of marketing’s cheesiest holidays. This year was no different. Google pretended to invent a new kind of “smartbox” for direct mail and flipped the search bar on Google.com around. Microsoft pretended to return to BASIC for a “clean and simple” design. Honda debuted a selfie-taking rearview mirror. At Movable Ink, we debuted our contextually relevant fireball technology.

April Fools’ email marketing campaigns came pouring into inboxes. We sorted through a lot of the holiday’s best emails and came up with eight that really stuck out.

Without further ado, here are our top eight April Fools’ emails:

1. Overstock.com

Overstock.com April Fools Email

With a subject line of “Are You The Victim of an April Fool’s Prank?”, Overstock.com decided to get really meta – rather than trying to prank customers who had been fooled on April Fools’ Day, the company created an email assuming customers had already been pranked.

Aside from a special discount to heal the pain, Overstock also offered some April Fool’s products like a “Boyfriend Pillow” and a “Whale Tea Leaf Infuser.”

2. Gap

Gap April Fools Email

The Gap also took a meta approach. The subject line of “Ha Ha” led recipients to a calendar where April 1st was marked as a day for more shopping and less pranking.

3. Banana Republic

Banana Republic April Fools Email

Banana Republic chose a similar route, going meta and figuring that customers might be looking for deals instead of pranks.

The brand opted for an eye-catching GIF that turned the mirrored letters of “This Is Not a Joke” forwards and backwards again.

4. Bonobos

Bonobos April Fools Email

Bonobos decided to run with a special product giveaway – a mini-pony. With a link to a live feed of an actual mini-pony (that told people it was all an April Fools joke), this email saw quite a bit of engagement… and a few complaints from people who were concerned that a mini-pony was actually headed to their doorstep.

5. Boden

Boden April Fools Email

Boden added content marketing to the mix by offering users a joke email about recalling a dress for an “inappropriate” image and having a call-to-action for recipients to read the full story.

6. Redbox

Redbox April Fools Email

Redbox sent out an email campaign introducing a brand new product: the Petbox. The company also included a link to Twitter so recipients could share their views on this particular innovation. With some pet-related movie titles, Redbox created an April Fools’ email that had got a lot of engagement on Twitter as well.

Like other brands, Redbox also included a real coupon in the joke email.

7. Zoro

Zoro April Fools Email

Dogs seemed to be a big part of April Fools emails. Industrial supplier Zoro.com sent an email about a new product line, Zoro Fido, targeted specifically for canines – from woofing nails to exta-ruff sandpaper.

8. Uber

Uber April Fools EmailUber decided to go with cats instead of dogs. With the UberLIONS service, Uber promised to deliver on-demand lion cubs to people who wanted to hang out with lions for the day.

This email helped raise awareness for a real cause being promoted by National Geographic to help save wild cats.

Personalizing with Personality

April Fools’ Day is one of the few days of the year when brands risk showing a little personality to their customers.

Sometimes, it seems like this tone of voice – and the creativity that can come into play here – is also one of the few days of the year when companies can break the mold and create different kinds of emails.

This doesn’t have to be a once-a-year thing. Email is a direct link to your customers and, if you take a chance and share a joke with them, they’re likely to feel a stronger connection with the brand in the future.

Responsive Email StrategyYou’ve seen the prank emails – what about brands that are doing responsive emails? Watch our webcast and download our slides, “9 Ways You Can Build Effective Mobile Email Marketing Campaigns” to learn nine different ways brands are using responsive email strategies today.

Download!

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