Every year, April 1st rolls around, and brands still collectively decide to lose their minds. Some of it is genuinely clever. Some of it makes you want to roll your eyes so hard that it would be embarrassing to explain to the eye doctor what happened when you strain something. Sure, this entire year on this planet feels like a joke so far, but brands still just couldn’t resist. And occasionally, just occasionally, a brand will unveil a fake product that you actually want, and that’s just when it stops being funny and starts being cruel.

This is the second year I’m featuring my best, worst, and everything in between here. Truthfully, I have a complicated relationship with brand April Fools’ jokes (and April Fools in general). On one hand, most of them are kind of dumb, and on the other hand, I can’t stop scrolling through them. It’s the brand nerd in me, I guess. Well, that, and it’s like the bad reality TV of marketing. Technically beneath me but somehow completely irresistible. So here’s a look at what brands were up to this year. Some of it is silly. Some of it was inspired. And at least one of them made me upset; it isn’t real. No, not the Keebler toothpaste.

Krispy Kreme x Mt. Olive:

The DougHnut No One Asked For

Don’t get me wrong, I love the occasional pickle, but I genuinely don’t understand how the dill pickle suddenly became the easiest brand go-to. This is just ONE of multiple pickle-related brand jokes this year, and I couldn’t decide which one was more egregious: the doughnut OR Jamba Juice’s entire line of pickle-related drinks. A Krispy Kreme doughnut stuffed with a Mt. Olive Kosher Dill Spear. Just sit with that for a second. This is the kind of content that thrives on the internet precisely because it is so repulsive; you just have to look at it. Trust me, if that image wasn’t right there, you would have clicked through the Instagram carousel looking for it. I know because I did it. While the frosting on the pastry is actually delicious looking, this sweet-and-briny combo lives rent-free in your feed and now, in your head. It’s not real, and it should absolutely stay that way.

Oura Ring for Pets:

The One That Actually Stings

And here we go. Here’s where I get personally victimized by April Fools’ Day. Oura announced a smart ring for pets, and based on the comments section, I was not alone in immediately wanting this to be real. Hell, I don’t even have an Oura Ring myself, but would I get one for my dog? Probably. Because he has to have the best of the best, like the spoiled little brat he is, and because I mean, look how cute it looks on the cat paw. Would my dog hate it? Absolutely. I digress. Sleep tracking for your dog? HRV for your anxious rescue? I don’t need more reasons to sign up. The fact that this doesn’t exist feels like a genuine loss for pet parents everywhere. Not funny, Oura. Not funny at all.

Waterfield Design x Vintage Apple:

The Most Expensive Joke Here

In celebration of Apple’s 50th anniversary and April Fools’ Day, Waterfield Designs unveiled a waxed canvas and leather backpack for the Macintosh SE/30 and a belt-worn holster for the Apple Newton. Because, of course, you’ve been wondering and waiting. Now you transport your Macintosh SE/30 after all these years with pure ease. Both priced at a cool $2,026, neither is available for purchase. The craftsmanship looks genuinely beautiful, which somehow makes the joke that much funnier or more tragic, depending on how you feel about vintage Apple gear and premium leather goods. Now, remembering when the Macintosh SE/30 was the computer standard…yikes.

IKEA UK X Chupa Chups:

Please, You Know You’d Try It

IKEA UK spent a week building suspense around their meatballs, which really isn’t that unusual. It’s IKEA. But then they revealed a meatball lollipop co-branded with Chupa Chups. In their own words, “the sweetest mashup no one asked for, but everyone will want to taste.” I am going to respectfully disagree with that last part. I tried the KFC jelly beans, and I am done with meats being in candies and shapes it really should not be in. And honestly, I haven’t thought about or tasted a Chupa Chup since like Spice Girls were on the packages. I do not want to taste this. I respect the bit, I appreciate the commitment, but no.

Dyson AirWrap for Pets:

Blowouts for the Whole Household

Dyson posted a video showing off imaginary pet hair care products, complete with sleek new looks for dogs, cats, and, naturally, a horse whose hair somehow looks so much better than mine does right now. Because if you’re going to do it, why not go full horse? The production video alone is peak Dyson: minimal, aspirational, and somehow makes you feel like your pet’s coat is deeply inadequate. Something that could easily be solved with a Dyson Pet. Silly? Yes. Highly watchable? Also yes. Not going to lie, my dog loves the blow dryer already, I can’t imagine what a diva he’d be with a Dyson Pet…

Smarties x Cabot Creamery:

Seriously Smart Cheese

I know I said no more foods as candies, but I said meat, and this is cheese. Smarties and Cabot Creamery partnered up to introduce Seriously Smart Cheese - “the world’s first cheddar-forward candy tablet.” The concept? Cabot’s Seriously Sharp Cheddar was pulverized into a fine powder and reshaped into a Smarties-sized disk. As not only a cheese lover but a tart candy lover, I’m a little sad I can’t try it. Cabot’s own statement delivered an incredible line: “We set out to make cheddar more portable. We may have overachieved.” That’s excellent brand voice. Fake product, real copywriting skills.

Laneige x Sol de Janeiro:

The Beauty Collab Too Good to Be True

This is another one that stung pretty deeply. Laneige and Sol de Janeiro, two brands with overlapping fan bases, announced a lip sleeping mask in Sol de Janeiro’s iconic scents. The internet collectively lost its mind, because this ia product that should absolutely exist. Laneige’s cult lip mask formula in Brazilian Crush or Cheirosa? Done. Take my money. The fact its not real is a genuine act of cruelty dressed up as a marketing stunt. The comments speak for themselves. Well played, ladies. Devastating, but well played.

Red Lobster x Pop-Tarts: No.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I think the Pop-Tarts Bowl is one of the greatest brand & marketing opportunities of all time. I won’t shut up about it or how Pop-Tarts is incredible at leaning into managed insanity. However, this has the chaotic energy of a brand collab that absolutely should not work and yet still makes you take a pause. A Cheddar Bay Biscuit Pop-Tart? Both are pastries, but is it wrong? Obviously. Is it something you’d try on a dare? Probably. Does it look utterly disgusting? 100%. But both brands have the right amount of chaos energy to lean into this absurdity and deliver a pretty memorable fake product.

Cup Noodles Heatless Curls Kit:

Ramen Waves Are In

Forget noodles in a cup. It’s all about your hair serving noodles and not in the way 90s Justin Timberlake was. IYKYK. Cup Noodles brought its signature noodles to the beauty aisle with the Cup Noodles Heatless Curls Kit, promising easy overnight curls. Funny right? I love that all the fabric is made to look like hard cup noodles. But what really sent me over the edge was the Broth Boost setting spray for what they call “flawless ramen waves.” Look, we’ve all seen some of the things people are willing to put in their hair in the name of beauty, and somehow, Cup Noodles Broth Boost finishing spray doesn’t feel that far off. This idea is pretty chaotic but incredibly creative. I enjoyed it much more than Butterfinger Top Ramen, that’s for sure.

Baskin-Robbins:

Ice Cream Soup Because…Sure

Baskin-Robbins took their 31 flavors and asked: what if we put it in a can…as soup? Canned ice cream soup. I have questions. I have concerns. I also have a strange and complicated respect for the audacity of this one. Ice cream is already a liquid waiting to happen. We’ve all let a scoop sit too long. But canning it on purpose and calling it soup is a completely different level of unhinged. But the funniest part to me is that this can literally be anyone’s reality if they wanted it bad enough. Absurd? Yes. Memorable? Absolutely. Would I try it if it were strawberry cheesecake? I plead the fifth.

Halls: Direct from Grandma’s Purse

This one is lowkey genius and made me nostalgic for my own grandma in .5 seconds flat. Halls imagined a cough drop flavor called “Grandma’s Purse” with scents of lavender and lint. It’s extremely specific, completely disgusting, and somehow deeply accurate. How have we all somehow managed to have the same collective experience? Anyone who has ever reached into their grandmother’s bag for a cough drop and received something of a more mysterious origin knows exactly what this is intended to smell like. Heck, I remember my grandma had a sandwich baggy with cough drops and hard candies, and every time, somehow the lint of her hankie was the main character. The lore is real, but the product is not.

Superspace:

The Only Way Millennials Will Own a Home

If you don’t know Superspace, they are the brand behind living-room play forts for kids. So naturally, for April Fools’ Day, they announced they were expanding into full-scale modular housing with a “Tiny Home” line. Supposedly built entirely from its signature eco-felt panels, the brand said it was “designed in response to the growing demand to take Superspace playsets beyond the playroom and into fully livable spaces.” That leaves about two options: making your kids move out and live on their own or allowing Millennials to finally own a home. It is obviously a joke, but given where the housing market is, I’m not entirely sure their view on demand is wrong.

Until Next Year

Here’s the thing about April Fools’ jokes: the best ones say something true. The Halls’ Grandma’s Purse lozenge works because it is rooted in a real, relatable experience. The Oura Pet Ring lands because it’s a product that loving pet parents would probably buy. The WaterField Designs pieces are beautiful because real craft went into something absurd to appreciate something life-changing. The pranks that fall flat are the ones that feel purely performative. The ones where a brand is yelling “trust us! we’re fun and unhinged too!” without any real idea behind it. Trust me, there were many of those out there today.

So yes, most of this is kind of dumb. And yes, I spent way too long scrolling through brand Instagram accounts and my go-to sources on April 1st. But I’ll likely be back again next year, prepared to be mildly entertained and at least once genuinely devastated that something isn’t real. But that’s the deal. That’s the bit. See you then.

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