Take It Face To Face

It’s the last day of March, and that means only one thing. No, you’re right, it means several things. It means it’s spring now. It also means the Cherry Blossom Festival is almost upon us. But the one I was really going for is that it means tomorrow is April Fool’s Day.

What a strange pastime: people going to great pains to confuse, trick and embarrass their friends and family. But whereas simple pranks like short-sheeting beds and strategically placing whoopee cushions lying about used to do the trick, the holiday has, of late, transcended its humble origins into something of a nationwide warfare.

More and more each year, corporations are getting in on the act, taking their crack at pulling the wool over the eyes of the surprisingly unsuspecting public. Google, for one, is obsessed with the idea. Since 2000, they’ve attempted something almost every year, from an article divulging pigeons as the workers responsible for ranking search results to reports about an upcoming intelligence-boosting Google soft drink.

The two greatest corporate gags that come to my mind both took place over a decade ago. The first occurred in 1996 when Taco Bell had thousands of New York Times readers convinced that Philadelphia’s great icon had been renamed the Liberty Taco Bell. The second took place in 1998, when a Burger King advertisement that ran in USA Today duped customers into ordering specially designed left-handed Whoppers.

For whatever reason, people fell for these things, and therein lies their hilarity. But since then, no April Fool’s Day stunts have really impressed themselves upon my memory. I’d like to hope this is because people are getting smarter. More likely, though, these tricks have simply become so commonplace that everyone is on the lookout.

And how do these fake campaigns figure into the marketing mix? Is Taco Bell at risk for losing favor from people who really believe they bought out the Liberty Bell? Are Whopper lovers going to spite Burger King for making them look like utter fools in public?

Oh, I really hope not. April Fool’s Day is just too much fun. And even if they fail occasionally, I hope corporations keep trying, because it’s fabulous to watch the confusion that ensues when they actually hit the mark.

What’s the best April Fool’s Day prank someone ever pulled on you? Think these campaigns would’ve convinced you? Tell us your thoughts.

Burger King has taken a good deal of flack lately about their new campaign Burger Virgins. The campaign is pretty simple, a film crew from Burger King went to regions of the world where people who have never seen a hamburger. They filmed the local’s interaction with the burgers and then asked them which burger they liked better, the Whopper or the Big Mac.

You can see the campaign here: http://www.whoppervirgins.com. The company that produced these spots is the same marketing firm that produced they ‘No Whopper’ campaign last year. Burger King is taking heat from groups proclaiming that BK is flaunting food to hungry people in impoverished countries.

Burger King went to great lengths, working with local governments, to find people who have food but who have never seen a hamburger. Still many groups protest the ad campaign and protest Burger King.

While people have the right to protest what they want, the protesters are actually helping promote Burger King’s new campaign. Burger King is getting a good deal of free press surrounding a campaign that in my opinion isn’t that bad.

I have been to close to 40 different countries in my life, have met plenty of people who have never experienced American cuisine. Am I some how denigrating them by putting a hamburger in front of them?

I don’t know, I might be missing something. What is your opinion.