We Must Say No to Food Brand April Fools Stunts
Plus: These women must castrate a baby bull to win a farmer’s heart
Tuesday, a.k.a. April 1, was my least favorite day of the year to work in food media. Scrolling Instagram, in came a flow of “big announcements” from food brands: meatball-flavored lip balm, sardine-flavored water, fried chicken-flavored toothpaste, coffee-flavored beans.
Anyone can replicate this with the least amount of effort. Take whatever product you sell. Think of a thing that would make it, in your mind, a little gross. Ask your in-house designer to mock something up (or, worst case scenario, deplete a bunch of the earth’s precious resources to have generative AI create an image). Post it. Wait for the hahahas to roll in.
Now, I’m not trying to ruin anyone’s good time, but having witnessed these posts for a good 14 years or so, I think it’s time to gently lay this tradition to rest. Here’s my reasoning:
