To April Fool or not? 6 pranking caveats
PR experts say it’s OK to have fun on this devious day, but they urge you to exercise caution if you’re pulling a prank.
Pity the poor business reporter and newswire editor working on April Fools’ Day. One slip-up, one moment of absent-mindedness, and they might fall for a news release announcing child-free flights on Ryana ir or the introduction of the Star Wars tauntaun sleeping bag—a joke so many people wanted to believe in 2009, it became a real item.
April Fools’ Day can be tricky for the PR and communications people setting up the prank, too. They can backfire. For example, a 1999 joke announcement in the Connecticut Journal-Inquirer stating that customers would have to pay $5 to see a live teller led to account closures and a public apology.
So is it worth even trying?
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