April 1 2024, Taragis Takoyaki restaurant in Pampanga Philippines, posted a poster challenge on their Facebook page, but it has now been deleted; stating that they are looking for a challenger who is willing to get a tattoo of the Taragis logo on their forehead in exchange for P100,000.
After 30 minutes of the said posted poster ‘Tatay Ramil’
Mr. Ramil Albano posted a photo of himself with a tattoo on his forehead in the comment section, but netizens didn’t pay much attention to it.
The next day, April 2nd 2024, Taragis Takoyaki posted another Facebook post (now deleted). Stating that they are just doing a frank post for April Fool’s Day.
The poster post and Mr. Ramil’s photos were inserted along with their statement that they were not responsible for the events that transpired. Their post went viral after netizens caused a flood of hate comments against them.
On the other hand, Mr. Ramil Albano, a 47-year-old who lives in Caloocan, was formerly a fishball vendor and is currently taking care of his son with Down syndrome.
He has received sympathy from netizens, including famous influencers and famous brands all over the Philippines. Many of them have promised to help Mr. Albano, despite the controversy surrounding whether his tattoo is real or not.
Due to the April Fool’s joke by Taragis Takoyaki, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) also expressed their thoughts about this issue, considering suspending or revoking the business name registration of the mentioned party.
To appease the anger of the public, Taragis Takoyaki posted another video on April 2 2024, showing Mr.Quoin giving the (P100,000) money to Mr.Ramil.
On April 6, 2024, Taragis Takoyaki CEO, Mr. Carl Quion, posted a video revealing that the April Fool’s Day prank was his idea, which started on April, 2023. He was contemplating the type of post or gimmick he needed to attract people’s attention on social media.
On August 29, 2023, the plan was initiated. Mr. Quion asked his tattoo artist friend if he knew someone willing to have a Taragis logo tattooed on their forehead and do anything for this planned act, in exchange for receiving P100,000.
Not long after the search, he found Mr. Ramil Albano and had a conversation on messenger. During the conversation, Mr. Albano expressed that he would not regret his decision and was willing to do anything for his child with Down syndrome.
Mr. Quion agreed that Mr. Albano would be his accomplice in this act, as they had previously met through Taragis challenge Mr. Albano had undertaken in the past.
March 28, 2024, they initiated the plan, which involved Mr. Albano getting the Taragis logo tattooed on his forehead.
The plan was successful according to Mr. Quion as it garnered public attention and his post went viral.
Additionally, Mr. Ramil Albano received assistance from various people, ranging from ordinary individuals to renowned brands.
In this revelation video, Mr. Quion mentioned also that not only did he benefit from this strategy, but also digital creators, influencers, and business individuals who participated in the viral issue. They gained thousands of new followers on their social media pages in just one day.
He also said that he intended to disclose the truth behind the stunt promptly. However, due to the numerous parties benefiting from the viral issue, he decided to wait a bit longer before revealing the truth.
The continuation of the revelation also mentioned the amount Mr. Ramil Albano received from public donations.
According to Taragis, Mr. Albano received around P200,000 and not one million, and Mr. Albano received it personally. Mr. Quion clarified that Taragis did not receive any money from the donations for Mr. Ramil.
And in the last part of the video, Mr. Quion apologized for deceiving the public with the planned marketing strategy, and he expressed his gratitude to those who genuinely helped Mr. Albano.
The video received 51k reactions and 1 million views after 8 hours of uploading the video.
Sources:
DTI comment on Taragis April Fool’s Day Frank
Taragis Takoyaki: The Revelation
