Monday, April 2, 2018

Netflix, others share April Fools’ Day whimsy

Even Easter Sunday didn’t stop PR and marketing pros embracing April Fools’ Day.

Netflix’s team flexed their creative muscles to announce that the company had acquired comedian Seth Rogan:

The company issued a press release with more information:

World-renowned Canadian person, prolific marijuana-doer, and winner of the 2015 MTV Movie Award for “Best Kiss” Seth Q. Rogen has entered into a lifetime deal to transfer full ownership of his personal autonomy to Netflix, Inc.

“I have known Seth for many years” said senior Netflix Development Executive Jareth Chumley. ... In the end we settled on a price a little higher than a standard Chili’s To-Go entree, but I’ll be damned, not by that much.”

“As a general rule, I don’t really ‘read’ anything before I sign it,” replied Rogen when asked about the deal, spilling some beer on his own head as he does the finger-symbol equivalent of air quotes. “That’s what Danny is for, he handles that for me, mostly,” gesturing toward an elderly man in a poncho sleeping on the couch behind him.

Seth Rogen’s Hilarity for Charity is the first project where Netflix was able to successfully extract comedy directly from the actor’s mind. It will stream April 6. While the remaining projects Rogen will be participating in have not yet been finalized, Netflix is considering a live-action Shrek remake, starring Rogen as both the titular character, as well as that character’s love interest Fiona. There will also be other tasks considered, including some off-camera roles such as “executive foot massager” and “Quentin’s back waxer”. “The world really is our oyster here,” said Netflix Chief Operations Officer Karen Shartwell. “There really isn’t anything on earth that we can’t make him do.”

Netflix also gave its members a 6-minute video on how the deal transpired:

 

Along with the announcement, Netflix suggested additional changes would be on the way:

Variety reported:

The joke can be read as an inside-baseball allusion to Netflix’s recent binge-spending spree on Hollywood talent, which has included pricey overall deals with Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy. But essentially it’s just a promo for Rogen’s “Hilarity for Charity” comedy special.
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Netflix wasn’t the only organization that took advantage of April Fools’ Day to promote its products and services. Many brand managers took to Facebook and Twitter to present fake products that underlined their real offerings—some days before April 1:

Brand managers that didn’t have products shared jokes, games and contests that still highlighted their organizations:

What do you think of this year’s April Fools’ Day marketing efforts?

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