On April 1st, social media is filled with humorous posts from companies.
Fictional new products. Impossible new services. Posts that make you do a double take.
April Fools’ Day can be seen as a rare occasion when companies are allowed to show a bit of playfulness in their communication. As you browse through these posts, you may start to notice something. Even with similar ideas, some companies feel genuinely entertaining, while others somehow feel slightly off.
Where does this difference come from? Is it creativity? Or skill in social media execution? Perhaps there is a simpler reason. Whether it feels true to the company or not.
Humor Works on Top of Context
When an April Fools’ post feels engaging, there seems to be a shared premise: the audience already has a certain image of the company.
For example:
- Its usual brand image
- The nature of its products or services
- Its culture and values
Because this context exists in the audience’s mind, the idea of “plausible, yet impossible” humor can work.
On the other hand, no matter how elaborate the concept is, if that context has not been sufficiently formed, the message may not land as intended.
“It feels like they’re trying to say something, but it’s a bit unclear.” Such impressions can emerge. In that sense, April Fools’ posts are not just social media campaigns, but a form of communication that operates on top of a company’s existing narrative.
A Brand as a “Shared Story”
The term “brand” is often discussed in relation to logos or visual design, but it may encompass more than that. A brand can also be understood as a state in which a company’s story is shared.
- What the company aims to achieve.
- What values it holds.
- What kind of services it provides.
When this story is shared with the audience, communication becomes easier to understand.
A new service may feel like “something that company would do.” A sustainability initiative may be received as “true to the company.”
And it is this shared context that allows even April Fools’ humor to work naturally.
Conversely, when communication feels inconsistent, it may be because the underlying story is not clearly connected.
For example:
- A new service
- A sustainability initiative
- A new brand message
Each piece of information may exist, but the connection to the company’s direction is not always clear. As a result, information may reach the audience, but the context does not.
This is when communication can feel fragmented— a structure not entirely unlike companies whose April Fools’ posts fail to resonate.
Designing the “Story Structure”
We do not see corporate communication as merely the act of sharing information.
Rather, we see it as designing a company’s story structure.
Brand, UX, and sustainability may appear to be separate domains, but they all connect to a single question: how a company’s story is shaped.
Values. Experience. Social initiatives. When these elements are connected into a coherent context, communication tends to resonate more naturally.
And in companies where such a story is shared, even something like an April Fools’ joke may come across effortlessly.
Whether humor works or not may, in some cases, reflect how well a company’s story is structured.
From the perspective of story design
In sustainability and branding efforts, it is not only what you communicate, but also how the structure of communication is designed that can make a difference.
At Neuromagic, we support organizations through an integrated approach, including:
- Brand story development
- Communication design
- Sustainability strategy design
If you are interested, please feel free to contact us.
※For inquiries related to this article, please select “Sustainability Workshop・Internal Training” in the inquiry form
