The Work

We’re big believers in helping brands show their human side, so when IKEA asked us to have a crack at pranking the nation for April Fool’s Day we jumped at the chance.  There’s been some outstanding efforts over the years, from the BBC convincing their viewers that spaghetti grows on trees, to Burger King announcing the launch of the left handed Whopper. We knew that two vital ingredients would prove critical to success; editorial newsworthiness and social currency. Our prank had to appeal to the media but also be entertaining enough to motivate people to share it.

Under strict embargo on Thursday 30th March we announced that Australia was to be a test market for the IKEA Hundstol – a doggie highchair being introduced to reflect the changing needs of the Australian family. At midnight we pushed live a video interview with our doggie highchair ‘designer’ and we placed print ads that appeared in media on April Fool’s Day. Within hours we were getting calls from media and consumer enquiries flooded in. The IKEA Hundstol took Australia by storm, with Today Show, The Morning Show and Sunrise all covering it. Then, when the rest of the world woke up the story went global, making headlines in hundreds of articles across the US, UK, Canada, Sweden and even Taiwan. The stunt was covered by many major media players including Good Morning America, the UK’s Daily Mail and the Huffington Post, who all rated it as one of the best April Fool’s gags of the year. The accompanying video achieved a quarter of a million hits in two days and importantly, Perez Hilton’s dog Teddy also gave it a nod. But the number of people who genuinely wished to place an order for their own doggie high chair shocked all of us… irrefutable proof that dog lovers are seriously barking!