Taco Liberty Bell
Taco Liberty Bell was a successful April Fool's joke by the Taco Bell fast food chain . On April 1, 1996, advertisements appeared in six leading US newspapers claiming that the company had acquired Liberty Bell and was now renaming it Taco Liberty Bell.
background
The joke was well planned. The ad was created in March with the assistance of Vice President Jonathan Blum. In order to make it difficult to detect early, the advertising company Paine & Associates did not order the advertisement until two days before going to press.
On April 1, 1996, The Philadelphia Inquirer , New York Times , Washington Post , Chicago Tribune , Dallas Morning News, and USA Today advertised the Liberty Bell. Taco Bell said it bought the Liberty Bell to counter the national debt of the United States . The bell would still be accessible to the general public, but from now on it would be called Taco Liberty Bell.
A press release also stated that the bell would now commute between its Philadelphia exhibition site and the Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine .
Throughout the day, thousands of citizens complained to Taco Bell and expressed concern about one of the landmarks of the United States. The National Park Service held a press conference to calm the angry crowd. Even the White House responded to the joke. Press secretary Mike McCurry said this was just the beginning. Tomorrow they would meet with Ford Motors to rename the Lincoln Memorial the Lincoln Mercury Memorial.
In the afternoon, Taco Bell released a second press release exposing the hoax and saying they would donate $ 50,000 to get the Liberty Bell.
reception
The April Fool's joke is considered one of the most successful in the history of advertising and met with great interest. Over 650 print magazines and 400 television formats reported on the April Fool's joke, including popular formats such as NBC's Nightly News and The Today Show , CBS ' This Morning and USA Today . For example, Taco Bell received free advertising worth about $ 25 million, while the entire promotion only cost about $ 300,000.
Pop culture references
In 2004 the extreme metal band If Hope Dies released a song called Let Freedom Ring (From the Taco Liberty Bell) on their album The Ground Is Rushing Up to Meet Us .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f The Taco Liberty Bell . In: Museum of Hoaxes . ( hoaxes.org [accessed May 1, 2018]).
- ^ When Taco Bell 'Bought' the Liberty Bell . In: Priceonomics . ( priceonomics.com [accessed May 1, 2018]).
- ↑ Two decades ago, Taco Bell convinced America that it had bought the Liberty Bell . In: PhillyVoice . March 30, 2018 ( phillyvoice.com [accessed May 1, 2018]).