Filipino man tattoos his forehead to win US$1,770 in April Fools’ Day prank gone wrong

On April 1, Carlo Quion, the owner of Taragis Takoyaki, posted an image on Facebook offering to give 100,000 Philippine pesos (US$1,770) in cash to whoever would tattoo the Taragis logo on their foreheads.

To see “further details” about the contest, online users were told to click the image. Those who clicked would have seen the image enlarged showing the words: “April Fools”.

Upon seeing the image on Monday, online seller Ramil Albano rushed to the nearest tattoo shop. Hours later, Albano sent a video of his tattooed forehead to the Taragis Facebook page. He claimed that he did not click on the image before he took up the ink challenge.

Taragis’ account posted screenshots from Albano’s video and said it was “not accountable for events that occurred”. It also acknowledged receiving “a number of messages claiming that our post was executed and that someone had taken it seriously”.

The account then added this admonition: “Let this serve as a reminder to us all how important reading comprehension is. It’s April Fools’ Day. Never trust anything or anyone. The same as any other day.”

Its posts quickly went viral due to overwhelming public outrage and were later deleted. Taragis’ and Quion’s Facebook pages were inundated with criticisms and curse words.

Strangers also started flooding Albano’s Facebook page with offers to send him gifts ranging from shoes to mobile phones, a huge TV set, an English-Tagalog dictionary and cash.

This Week in Asia has reached out to Quion and Albano for an interview.

In an apparent response to the outrage over his marketing gimmick, Quion, who is a well-known illusionist, filled a duffel bag with 100,000 pesos and visited Albano at his home in Caloocan, a city north of Manila, the next day along with a