This week's Stunt Watch is serving up some peculiar timing as brands have collectively decided that April 1st is just too mainstream and launched into foolery a full week early. Innovative? Maybe. Confusing? Absolutely.

Let's dive into the early April madness and some genuinely heartwarming campaigns that made me feel warm and fuzzy inside this week.

April Fools it's March

Either someone's calendar is seriously broken or there's been an underground creative meeting I wasn't invited to (rude), because several major brands have decided to drop April Fools pranks a full week early. Like that person who shows up to the party after you’ve hoovered and before you've even showered – we see you, and it's awkward for everyone.

Waitrose kicked things off with its dramatic 'RIP D.I.P' announcement – claiming its getting rid of its hummus dip. I mean, I can imagine the yummy mummy’s were sick to their stomachs with the news. Not to be outdone, Aldi declared the death of its beloved middle aisle – that magical place where you go in for milk and come out with a paddle board, a power drill, and questionable garden ornaments.

Completing the trifecta of premature pranking, Lipton Ice Tea announced they're binning their peach flavor. The horror! All to follow up with… April Fools even though it’s March.

So what gives? Did great minds think alike, or was there some sort of secret creative plotting to shift April Fools' Day? While I appreciate the element of surprise, I can't help but feel this trend is walking a fine line. The first time it's funny – when everyone's doing it, it becomes about as enjoyable as explaining TikTok to your grandparents. From a consumer perspective, once is cheeky, twice is pushing it, three times is just tedious.

At this rate, Christmas ads will start dropping in July (oh wait...).

Great Ormond Street's picture day

Now onto something genuinely worth celebrating – Great Ormond Street Hospital's (GOSH) picture day campaign. This one hit me right in the feels. So much so that I spent about 30mins explaining to my partner why this campaign is so real and important and magical…even though he still didn’t quite get my enthusiasm and also thinks I made the recent Magnum ad (typical).

The insight was perfect and spot on. Creating a magical moment for kids who spend most of their school days in hospital beds rather than classrooms, missing out on those classic milestones we all take for granted. School picture day – that annual ritual of awkward poses, last-minute hair fixes, and those photos our parents love to whip out at the most embarrassing moments.

GOSH created a proper school picture day experience for its young patients, complete with the iconic blue background we all recognize, and of course with photography royalty Rankin. The simplicity of this idea is what makes it so brilliant. These aren't just photos – they're a slice of normalcy in lives that are anything but normal. They're the images these kids can look back on and think "yeah, I had that too" instead of just seeing hospital walls in their childhood albums.

For every parent who's ever rolled their eyes at picture day, this campaign is a powerful reminder of how these seemingly mundane school traditions are actually precious moments. The photos show kids being kids. Some pulling cheeky faces, others giving their best angel impression, all of them just existing in a moment of childhood that has nothing to do with their medical conditions.

In a world of flashy stunts and viral moments, sometimes it's these quiet, meaningful campaigns that leave the biggest impact.

Millwall FC launches it’s own network

Finally, we need to talk about Millwall FC launching its own phone network. Yes, you read that correctly. A football club. With a phone network. My initial reaction was somewhere between confusion and mild horror, is this really something a football club needs to branch into? Especially one with, let's say, a colourful history.

Turns out I wasn't alone in my bewilderment as fans seemed equally perplexed. And genuinely asked if it was an April Fools…

But hang on, let's take a step back and think about this. Football, at its core, is about connection, bringing people together over a shared passion, creating communities, and facilitating communication (mostly in the form of animated shouting).

At a competitive £10 a month, Millwall Mobile is positioning itself as the network that unites fans in more ways than just match days. It's an interesting pivot, and while I'm not entirely convinced, I have to admire the audacity.

Will I be switching to Millwall Mobile anytime soon? Probably not. But for die-hard fans, this offers yet another way to show their loyalty and potentially save a few quid in the process. Whether this is a brilliant extension of the club's brand or a bizarre detour remains to be seen, but it's certainly got people talking – which, let's face it, is half the battle in our world.