Here's the worst April Fools' prank by a brand this year: A beer-of-the-month club in England pranked people into thinking they'd won free beer for life. But the "claim prize" button actually tricked them into signing up for a real subscription that costs $30 a month. Now they might be facing legal action.
Lots of brands did April Fools' Day pranks last week. Like Little Tikes' cubicle for babies . . . a chance to stay overnight in the Budweiser Clydesdales stables . . . and a Meat Sweats deodorant from Omaha Steaks.
But here's one that DIDN'T go over well: There's a beer-of-the-month club in England called the Bier Company. And last Friday, they sent out an alert to their mailing list telling people they'd won free beer FOR LIFE.
The texts and emails included a link you could use to claim your prize, which wasn't actually real. But that's not what made people mad.
If you clicked the link and followed the instructions, it unwittingly signed you up for a REAL subscription that costs $30 A MONTH. And only the first month was free.
Basically, they scammed people into signing up, and then acted like they should have known, because the promo code was "April Fools" spelled backwards. (SLOOFLIRPA)
People who fell for it weren't happy. And there wasn't an easy way to cancel the subscription, which got them even more upset.
The company revealed it was a prank a few hours later. And at least 40 people immediately filed complaints with a group that monitors false advertising. So now the company could be facing legal action. (BoingBoing / MarketingWeek)