7 Cringeworthy April Fool's Pranks That Are So Bad, They're (Almost) Good

It’s April Fool’s day, aka the day loved by small children, corporate brands... and precisely no one else.

As tradition dictates, companies are here to get a bit of extra advertising with a prank that’s truly naff. And this year’s offerings are so daft, they’re (almost) funny.

Here are seven attempts at humour we’ve loved to hate. Reader, proceed with caution.

Pringles lip balm

Pringles claimed be launching a lip balm in two flavours – salt and vinegar, and sour cream and onion – after “months of research and development”. They said the product would “leave lips feeling moisturised with that light Pringles tingle”... if only it truly existed.

Wimbledon turns purple

Britain’s most iconic tennis venue has been renovated ahead of the summer tournament, according to Robinsons, the official partner of Wimbledon. The brand claimed the court was covered in “160 litres of non-toxic paint in Pantone 2105C”. Nothing to do with Photoshop, then.

A meaty bath bomb

Restaurant chain Frankie & Benny’s thinks its meatballs are so good, you’ll want to bathe in them. The brand is advertising “meatball bath bombs”.

“As you submerge it in water you’ll be greeted by scents of pork and garlic, followed by chilli and tomato before hints of lemon and black pepper,” it says. Sounds truly, truly, awful.

Turn that frown upside down

Iceland and McCain have teamed up to tease with Upside-Down Potato Smiles. Yep, you can just turn them up the other way.

“You may think it’s just a potato smile the wrong way round, but a lot of design, recipe testing and trials went into this – we’re no fools,” said head of product development David Lennox. Top marks for puns.

Falafel ice cream

Goodlife has mocked up a vegetable ice cream, made with a smooth chickpea praline, swirls of salted caramel and Falafel baked ‘dough’. It’s made with coconut milk, “making it dairy free and vegan,” the brand says. No, we don’t get the joke for this one, either.

Heinz innocent ‘Smoup’

“A tasty blend of the iconic Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup and classic Strawberry and Banana Innocent smoothie.”

You’d be a true fool to be hoodwinked by a recipe that disgusting. We like the name though, #Smoup4Life.

A Paw-ful phone contract

Sky Mobile is advertising a ‘Pet Tariff’ to help provide additional data to pet owners who need it.

“Renowned for quickly eating into their data allowances, pet owners need a SIM tariff that means they can long continue to share pet snaps on WhatsApp, keep their furry friends’ pet-stagram account up to date, video call their four-legged friends and use Paw-G to search online for the latest must-have accessory, wherever they are,” the brand says.

We’re not sure how they’ll claw their way back from a joke that bad.