Taco Liberty Bell

On April 1, 1996, Taco Bell took out a full-page advertisement in seven leading U.S. newspapers including The New York Times announcing that they had purchased the Liberty Bell to "reduce the country's debt" and renamed it the "Taco Liberty Bell".Thousands of people protested before it was revealed at noon April 1 that the sale was a hoax. White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry responded that the federal government was also "selling the Lincoln Memorial to Ford Motor Co. and renaming it the Lincoln-Mercury Memorial."


Influence
The prank was considered a successful advertising gambit by those involved.David Paine, Founder of PainePR, the public relations agency that executed the campaign, called it "the most successful project I've been involved with". The campaign cost was just $300,000, but it generated an estimated $25 million equivalent in free publicity, with a sales increase exceeding $1 million for the first two days in April.Entrepreneur Magazine includes it among its "Top 10 Successful Marketing Stunts". The Museum of Hoaxes ranks it as #4 on its list of the "Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time".
According to marketing author Thomas L.