BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – The April Fool’s Day Facebook post of Taragis Takoyaki went viral after one of its followers took it seriously and had the logo of the shop tattooed on his forehead.
The supposed prank post promised a P100,000 cash reward to anyone who would agree to tattoo the shop’s logo on the forehead and even put instructions to click the photo for the contest mechanics.
But once you click on the picture, the April Fool’s greeting appears.
Can the shop owner be required to pay the netizen who took the promo seriously and tattooed the logo on his forehead?
Anselmo Rodiel IV, a popular Tiktok lawyer known for his legal advice and commentary on various legal topics, gave his take on the viral April Fool’s Day prank.
In a Facebook video, Rodiel stressed that morally, the shop owner should just give the reward to the man who permanently tattooed the logo, as well as due to the publicity the shop has garnered.
In a legal sense, Rodiel said the shop owner cannot be compelled to award the prize even if the logo was tattooed permanently on his forehead because the contract was not perfected and that there was no abuse of rights.
In this case, the contract is considered an “onerous donation,” according to Rodiel, because something is being asked of the donee.
Under the law on contracts, such kind of donation requires consent or a meeting of the minds. Hence, Rodiel said a valid offer and acceptance must be complied with.
To make the offer valid, it must be complete, it must be clear, and it must not be made in jest, the lawyer stressed.
In the case of Taragis Takoyaki, Rodiel said there was no complete offer because the official rules were not in the post. Apart from the fact the promo was made in jest, the public did not know what the April Fool’s was about.
“With that being said, wala pong naging perfected contract between the parties,” he said.
There was also no abuse of right, said Rodiel, because the post suggested clicking on the photo for the contest rules.
There could only be an abuse of right if the shop’s Facebook page made two posts: the first making the offer, and the second revealing the April Fool’s prank, which could deceive people.
In this case, the viral April Fool’s reveal was in the same post, the lawyer said.
In another post, Rodiel asked his followers to help him locate the prank winner because he wanted to just give him P10,000.
Several businesses had offered gifts and perks to the man after the takoyaki shop initially said it was not accountable for its prank being taken seriously.
But Taragis’ owner, Carl Quion, later caved into the backlash and met with the man who got the tattoo and gave him his cash prize.
Quion also apologized to the public and urged netizens to always exercise prudence in posting online.
Asked why he accepted the shop’s challenge, Ramil Albano explained he simply did it for his son who has down syndrome, and for the tuition of his other son./PN
