Are you planning a company April Fool’s this year?

Insight | By Edmund Greaves

1 April is April Fool’s Day. It comes around every year and, yet, most of us get suckered in all the same.

Among some top efforts last year were Aldi’s airline, Walkers sandwich crisps and Rylan becoming the new voice of Amazon’s Alexa. Deliveroo even reportedly banned orders of pineapple on pizza.

April Fool’s has become a popular way for consumer brands to one up each other with fun and silly ideas, particularly using the virality and credulousness of social media.

This speaks to one of my favourites from 2022, when Ant and Dec claimed they had “joined the crypto revolution” with the launch of “Toon Coin”. The lore of the joke was extensive enough that apparently Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, was a “boom operator on Byker Grove.” Really a lot of layers to that line…

I imagine Ant and Dec’s crypto offering wouldn’t sit well this year considering the struggles the sector has faced over the past 12 months. A lot has changed in quite a short space of time.

I wouldn’t expect many crypto-themed jokes this year, but you never know. Please send the best you find to edmund.greaves@mrm-london.com.

As for what is coming up in April, Ofgem’s new energy price cap is coming into effect the same day as April Fool’s, while Ofcom is introducing ‘one touch’ switching for landline and broadband customers on 3 April.

5 April is the last day of the tax year, exciting for all of us nerdy enough to celebrate the ending of ISA season.

Good Friday is on 7 April, the same day as the latest US employment report, while Easter Sunday falls on 9 April. Easter Monday (10 April) is a holiday everywhere in the UK except Scotland.

The ONS publishes monthly GDP data on 13 April, employment and wage data on 18 April while inflation falls on 19 April.

The Muslim festival of Eid begins on 21 April while St George’s Day is on 23 April.

Finally, on 27 April the US reveals its first set of GDP figures for Q1 2023.

Here’s wishing you a Happy Easter from all of us at MRM and Mouthy Money.