AN APRIL Fools’ prank made by a takoyaki store sparked controversy after a man “blindly” got fooled by having the store’s logo tattooed on his forehead.
However, it turned out that the whole thing was scripted.
A quick recap
On April 1, a takoyaki store named Taragis posted an offer on their Facebook page that whoever dared to have their logo tattooed on their forehead will be rewarded with Php 100,000.
Later, a Facebook user by the name of Ramil Albano commented under the Taragis Facebook post, showing the process of his ongoing forehead tattoo.
“Sir, nag pm po ako sa inyo, ginagawa na po w8 po ako ng chat ninyo,” Albano wrote.
His comment was acknowledged by the takoyaki store to which they replied with shook emojis.
Courtesy: facebook.com / @Taragis
It didn’t take long for the takoyaki store to get backlash among netizens who believed the supposed April Fools prank was taken too far.
In a deleted Facebook post, Taragis responded to the netizens’ backlash by emphasizing how reading comprehension was important.
“It’s April Fools Day, Never trust anything or anyone. The same as any other day,” they added.
In the same post, they made it clear that they were not accountable for the events that had occurred.
Courtesy: facebook.com / @Taragis
Netizens’ reactions
Netizens didn’t take Taragis’ April Fools’ post kindly and expressed their anger and frustration toward the supposed prank on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter.)
Meanwhile many netizens also sympathized with the man who blindly got Taragis’ logo on his forehead.
As the Internet continued to sympathize with the man, several local business donated money to the man who got the logo tattooed in his forehead.
A Facebook group by the name of “Project Glow Up,” gave him a whopping amount of Php 100,000 while a cheese food stand “ChizMozza,” a cafe by the name of “Cafe Galilea,” and a Facebook group “KasKasan Buddies,” had promised to award him 10,000 pesos each.
Was it all a stunt?
After the viral April Fools post, Taragis owner eventually admitted that the social media incident was a marketing stunt that had been planned since 2023.
It was also revealed that Albano got the logo inked a few days before the prank was posted.
The brand had pretended that Albano got the tattoo out foolishness with the thought of getting the Php 100,000 offered by the brand’s post.
According to the Taragis owner, the reason behind getting the logo inked on Albano’s forehead is to have more engagement as he was not getting the level of engagement that he wanted.
“Bakit sa noo? Dahil kung hindi sa noo ay mawawalan lang ng saysay ang tattoo dahil wala nang nakakawili pa sa isang brand logo na nakatatak sa noo ng isang tao,” the owner said.
The owner later apologized for the incident.
“Oo, nagsinungaling ako sa inyo at gusto kong humingi ng tawad. Dinala namin kayo rito sa isang malaking marketing stunt na may iba’t ibang klaseng emosyon, diskusyon, at pagpapakitang tao,” he added.
The aftermath
Upon learning that the viral post was just a stunt, netizens quickly expressed their frustration towards the prank—with some, taking to X to express what they felt about the latest information.
