April Fools' Day Marketing (& Pricing)

I like to think of myself as a "punny" guy. As a junior in high school, my best friend's senior will bequeathed to me a book on "Accountants Best Loved Jokes." My sense of humor has leaned into Dad jokes, memes and puns (groan). So I kick-off Pricing Robservations with a title twist.

April Fools' Day 2022 had some good pranks to include late night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel switching shows. What stands out to me is when Marketing and Pricing/Revenue Management teams work together to have some fun with their customers, and to message value. Frontier Airlines did both this year with their email "NEW! Dino Tails + $39 flights and JURASSIC savings!"

Is Frontier sending passengers to Jurassic Park to capture and "submit your photo of a REAL dinosaur for a chance to be featured on a plane tail"? Click to "Learn More" at https://flights.flyfrontier.com/en/april-fools-dino-tails?utm_source=p_promo&utm_medium=email&utm_term=040122_FARESALE_RFMPP&utm_content=040122_FARESALE_RFMPP&utm_campaign=040122_FARESALE_RFMPP

...and you learn "April Fools!" but Frontier also messages low fares and a contest to win two round-trip tickets. Great job by the Frontier Marketing and Pricing/RM teams.

Two honorable mentions that caught my attention. First was GasBuddy, and the "roll" out of their new companion app, BathroomBuddy, "The new app you need when you're on the road." Flashbacks to Seinfeld and George Costanza's "Magnificent Facilities" episode and a follow-up with the Seinfeld reunion on Curb Your Enthusiasm's 2009 episode with the "iToilet" raced through my mind.

Click "Learn More" to discover "April Fuels..." I appreciate and use GasBuddy with the member community reporting current prices, especially for long trips and weather events. I am not however, fond of providing my bank account information to save on fuel, and prefer to use Fuel Rewards (Shell), 7-11, and ExxonMobil apps to save, especially with our current high gas prices. The GasBuddy team's intent was to stimulate interest for their Pay with GasBuddy card, but the offer was buried to the bottom of the screen.

Second was JetBlue's new "Queen's Express", which I discovered through LinkedIn. Having lived in Flushing and Jackson Heights when I was very young, traffic to LGA and between JFK can be a nightmare. Unfortunately the link takes you to the message, "This promotion has departed, but you can still catch a great deal." The comments on LinkedIn are mixed, and it seems that the overall execution by the JetBlue marketing team was a miss to include not leaving the landing page intact past April 1st.

What April Fools' Day pranks were the best/most memorable for you? Comment below.