It’s time to\nadmit it: marketing is foolish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And has been\nfor some time. For example, back on April 1, 1996, Taco Bell announced that\nthey had purchased the Liberty Bell and renamed it Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds\nof outraged calls poured in to National Historic Park before the truth was\nrevealed. The stunt merited comment in the day’s White House briefing when\npress secretary Scott McCurry vamped, off-the-cuff, that the Lincoln Memorial\nhad been purchased by an automaker and renamed Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For April\nFool’s 1998, Burger King addressed the needs of southpaws with the launch of\nthe left-handed Whopper. Made from the same ingredients as the regular Whopper,\nall of the condiments were turned 180 degrees. Dozens of people came in asking\nfor it, including one guy who said he was interested but wanted to know if it\ncame in a right-handed version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There have been\nvariations aplenty. Ben and Jerry’s launched Cyclone Dairy, a line of ice cream\nmade from the milk of cloned cows. On YouTube, videos have played\nupside-down. Southwest Airlines debuted service to St. Olaf, the fictional\nbirthplace of “Golden Girls” matriarch Sophia Petrillo. And who could\nresist the appeal of bacon-flavored Scope?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some stunts\nhave proven foolish indeed. In 2016, Google had to apologize for\nsurreptitiously adding “Despicable Me” minions to Gmail, causing some\nfolks to unknowingly include inappropriate elements in their personal and\nprofessional communications. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year,\nMicrosoft marketing chief Chris Caposella warned employees not to participate\nin any hoaxes, as they “have limited impact and can actually result in\nunwanted news cycles.” (That’s marketing-guy-speak for sh*t-storm.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But that’s not\ngonna stop every person, and certainly not every brand, from being foolish. And\nthis year the 1st falls on a Monday, so there’s maximum potential for unwise\nprofessional shenanigans and lasting regret. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You’ve been\nwarned; be careful out there next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n