What seems to be just a part of April Fools’ Day tradition turned disastrous as a local Takoyaki store owner named “Taragis” was bombarded with criticism when a man allegedly agreed to have the store’s logo tattooed on his forehead in exchange of P100,000 cash.
The prank which is now deleted was posted on the Takoyaki store owner’s Facebook page with the tagline “Kaya mo bang gawin para sa P100k?” The enticing monetary reward probably incited Ramil Albano to take the prank seriously causing netizens’ outrage towards the store.
In a separate removed post, Taragis cleared out that the tattoo challenge was just a prank for April Fools’ Day and that they were not accountable for what seemed to be a “lack of reading comprehension” of people.
The prank garnered mixed reactions from the netizens, some say that it was all Taragis’ negligence and sensitivity while others pointed out responsibility and the need for reading comprehension and media literacy for people.
To extend sympathy, some local tattoo artists offered tattoo-removal procedure to the victim.
Takoyaki store owner gives P100k to the victim
The following day, after the controversy, the Takoyaki store owner appeared to compensate the damage the prank brought to the victim. In a five-minute video, the Takoyaki store owner handed over the P100k monetary prize to Albano in North Caloocan when he personally visited the victim.
Alabano explained that he had only seen the instructions in the post and not the disclaimer indicated at the end of the post stating “April Fools’ joke”.
When asked what prompted him to do the challenge, he told the Takoyaki store owner that it was because of his 16-year-old son who has Down Syndrome.
Aside from the P100k prize, Albano was also treated to his favorite restaurant with an additional P1k at hand. The Takoyaki store owner then reminded other fellow influencers and brand owners to be utterly responsible for anything that they post online.
Some local brands extended monetary assistance to Albano aside from the tattoo-removal procedure offered by local tattoo artists.
Takoyaki store owner revealed the prank was scripted and elaborately planned
The resolution comes to an end as the Takoyaki store owner aka Carl Quion pulled the curtains open, saying the prank was all part of a marketing strategy initially crafted in April Fools’ Day last year.
The plan was to create noise and buzz for his Takoyaki brand which as you may see successfully circulated in the Philippines involving many people. As others often say, “bad publicity is still publicity”.
To trace back, the Takoyaki store owner said that he asked a tattoo artist way back in August last year to look for someone who is willing to have their logo tattooed on his/her forehead.
Why on the forehead? the Takoyaki store owner reiterated that there was nothing more amusing than having their brand logo tattooed on the said body part.
And the unfortunate victim turned out to be the 47-year-old Facebook user Ramil Albano. Albano compromised with all the agreement in March such as not stepping out of house for the sake of his son who has special needs.
Taragis owner listed good and bad consequences of the marketing stunt
The Takoyaki store owner later on admitted his wrongdoings and asked for apologies for making such discourse and putting up hoax acts.
According to the Takoyaki store owner, the prank led them to appear deceiver to the mass, on contrary, some local brands were able show kindness, giving in-kind monetary assistance and donations to Albano.
Albano reportedly received approximately P200,000 in cash, The Takoyakis store owner clarified that he did not get any percentage from the amount and although they tried to give it all back to the donors, the latter refused to do so.