Philippines man fooled into tattooing food company’s logo on forehead on 1 April

A man in the Philippines got a food company’s logo tattooed on his forehead for a £1400 cash prize, only to find out it was an April Fools’ Day prank.

Ramil Albano, a resident of capital Manila, fell for an image that offered cash prizes to those willing to get the logo of the local food business, Taragis Takoyaki, tattooed on their forehead.

Mr Albano, who is an out-of-work marine engineer, said he wanted the money to provide for his son who has Down syndrome.

He said he did not click to see “further details” on the picture which would have shown that it was an April Fools Day prank, not a contest. Mr Albano said he thought it to be one of the challenges that the company’s owner often posts where people are dared to eat spicy snacks without drinking water.

He promptly took the challenge after seeing the image and even shared a video of himself getting inked on the company’s page to claim the cash prize.

He only came to know that he had been pranked after the Facebook account of the business said it was “not accountable for events that occurred”.

Taragis Takoyaki said it received “a number of messages claiming that our post was executed and that someone had taken it seriously”.

It is a food chain with more than 80 outlets that specialises in takoyaki, a popular Japanese snack made from battered octopus. The business’s Facebook page often shares challenges and offers prize money to the winners.

Mr Albano’s video went viral and sparked backlash from Filipinos who criticised Taragis Takoyaki and its owner Carlo Quion for the apparent marketing gimmick.

Taragis Takoyaki apologised, saying in a Facebook post: “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.”

In the wake of the outrage, Mr Quion, a well-known illusionist, shared a lengthy video of him visiting Mr Albano’s home in north Manila and offering him 100,000 pesos – the sum promised as part of the prank.

Mr Quion met Mr Albano and his son and asked the marine engineer to consider removing his tattoo with a laser.