Hi there! I am Nic, Senior Partner at Starbright Floral Design. Sometimes I scribe on this page as The Official Florist. That name came as a short version of “The Official Florist of the City that Never Sleeps” – a tag line that seems to have stuck pretty well over the years.
I have always been intrigued by the innocent fun that people have with each other on April Fools Day. I have followed the holiday with some interest over the years and I have been inspired by the fun that people and companies have with each other on this one day when we invent the craziest things to say…
Why Google told us only a couple of days ago that they have developed an email program that works on hand signals. Remember when Taco Bell convinced us that they bought the Liberty Bell (to help with the deficit) and they were renaming it? Or when Burger King told us all that they had created a Whopper specifically for the southpaw? The condiments were turned 180 degrees to accommodate left-handed people. Sure.
We decided to have some fun this year and participate in the holiday (it is a holiday, right?). A lot of planning went into what we were going to do. Many nights of meetings, creative sessions and ideas were thrown around. We were new at this “hoax thing” and we put a lot of man hours learning how to spoof. Next year we think it will be easier. We are Fool Experts now!
So “The Official Florist of the City that Never Sleeps” issued a press release late at night on the 31st of March (as a decoy) that basically stated that we funded research that was led by Dr. Aprilia Anoitou (Greek translation for April Fool) in which we were able to genetically engineer a rose so that it would behave like an oyster and produce pearls. We were endorsed by a non-existent Dutch society that promotes flower buying. To top it off Poisson D’Avril (French for April Fool) from a fictional tourism board in New York City endorsed this high-end rose as a gift for someone who clearly has everything.
I got congratulatory calls and emails from far away places. Flower growers from Holland and importers from South America reached out to express their good wishes (the experts were dumfounded!). A New York City radio personality wanted an interview (I declined) and several on-line publications carried the story. Friends were even google-ing “The Pearl Rose” because they wanted to be in-the-know. The spoof was supported by our social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn)
Most marketers would call this a marketing success. I suppose it was. We set out to have some fun and did we ever! The planning, the execution, the fooling, having to answer emails and queries. It was all about The Pearl Rose. On most holidays we work ourselves to the point where work is tyranny. We never get to celebrate Mother’s Day, Valentine’s, Christmas or anything else. So finally we have found a holiday on a day that we are not so busy and we can enjoy a day of fun with the rest of the world. This too will be ruined when some floral industry consultant decides to create a holiday around people sending one another Foolish Flowers! For now we are relaxed and looking forward to April Fools 2012.
The Pearl Rose is history for now. Maybe someday someone will be able to cross-breed oysters and roses and pearls will be come from roses. Until then life is normal and we can all go back to being true romantics by wooing our honeys with vases and vases of the most gorgeous long-stemmed roses…
It really was The Fun Side of Flowers!
Starbright Floral Design is located in “The Heart of New York City’s Historic Flower District”. We deliver the most amazing blooms and the coolest floral compositions imaginable to anyone, anywhere and at any time (except in the overnight hours and to uninhabited places, war zones and to merchant marine vessels while sailing the high seas).
Give us a call at 800-520-8999 or better yet visit our website at www.starflor.com or our e-commerce portal (where you can buy really great flowers) at www.starbrightnyc.com. Stop by and meet us, give us a call or drop us a line. Tell us you want a dozen pearl roses and we will all smile!
Flowers, Festivals and Celebrations – it is what we do!
Blooming Thoughts 