In 2013, social media was buzzing with the Harlem Shake, Grumpy Cat’s rise to fame, and Doge memes saturating timelines. Many hadn’t even created and abandoned a Snapchat account yet.

Against this backdrop, a sponsored post featuring Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans “shaving” his eyebrow for April Fool’s Day seemed like a novel idea. It was an era where such antics hadn’t become cliché or worn out in the playbook of every major company’s social media manager.

However, skepticism arose when Davis posted a video on March 31 supposedly showing him shaving his iconic unibrow. In the video, he wore a Red Bull towel on his shoulder conspicuously, though he didn’t use it, and the logos of other products were strategically out of view.

The execution relied on a classic distraction technique: as Davis pretended to shave, he “accidentally” dropped the phone, and when he picked it up, his eyebrow appeared shaved. It was a clear “look over there” gag.

Later, Davis revealed on Sunday that it was all a hoax with a photo post. Surprisingly, the act didn’t fool many.

I give the Red Bull social team a low score of 2/10 for both concept and execution. With Red Bull’s substantial market valuation, couldn’t they have invested in better effects, like CGI? A skilled Adobe After Effects user could have easily masked out his eyebrows; the phone drop trick seemed amateurish.

As for Davis, I rate his acting a respectable 7/10 in a major social media campaign. He also deserves credit for gaining recognition and landing a national company to sponsor such a marketing stunt.