Who is more foolish, the fool, or the fool who posts a fake death notice?

[sigma7]

April Fool's: you're doing it wrong (via Romenesko):

A photo of Edward M. Gabriel, a very much alive international business consultant who was the U.S. ambassador to Morocco from 1997 to 2001, topped an ad on Page B8 in yesterday's Washington Post.

In language reminiscent of the movie "Brokeback Mountain," the $322.20 ad said, "Though I no longer have you as my partner, this day will always be OUR anniversary. . . . I could never quit you."

The ad was taken out by J. Peter Segall, a public relations executive and lawyer. Segall is paying for a retraction in today's Post. Segall said last night that he is a mature man who made an immature mistake.

...Gabriel said he fielded calls all day from friends who thought he had died. One woman told him she spent two hours crying after seeing the ad.

Comments

[niteflite.livejournal.com]

I've always felt that proper pranks are ones with no victims, in which case this one totally loses as the newspaper was targeted.