We're Sorry to Break Your Heart, But IVA Just Isn't Ready Yet!
InVideo pranked 2000+ users (including competitors) into signing up for a fake AI voice assistant video editor on April Fool's Day—while secretly validating real product demand.
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TLDR
• InVideo created "IVA," a fake voice-controlled video editor, complete with CEO videos and a polished landing page that fooled their entire community
• The prank generated 2000+ email signups with 4.4-minute average session times—even competitors fell for it
• Their founder noted it doubled as "validation/proof-of-concept" for actually building the feature later
• The campaign showed how April Fool's pranks can serve dual purposes: community engagement and market research
• They revealed the prank with a follow-up video, positioning it as "we don't take life too seriously"
In Detail
InVideo's social team executed an April Fool's campaign by creating "IVA"—a completely fake voice assistant video editor that users could supposedly control by saying "Hey IVA, make me a video for..." They went all-in on the deception: their CEO Sanket recorded promotional videos, they built a convincing landing page, and they enlisted loyal community members to hype it up on social media.
The results exceeded expectations. They collected 2000+ email registrations from users eager to try the non-existent feature, with people spending an average of 4.4 minutes on the landing page. The community "went into a daze of excitement" based on the Facebook comments shown. Most tellingly, their global competitors signed up too—suggesting the concept was genuinely compelling.
Beyond the laughs, co-founder Harsh Vakharia pointed out the campaign's strategic value: "This is also like validation/proof-of-concept for bringing such a feature to life in the future for video creation." They promoted it across Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram before revealing the prank on April 1st with another video. The campaign demonstrated how playful marketing can simultaneously build community goodwill and gather real market intelligence about product ideas.