• Brand Republic, Thursday, April 1, 2010 10:59 AM

It's early in the day, but we'd have to say that this story from our friends in Jolly Old England, replete with several video interviews, is this year's hands-down winner of the Most Ambitious Marketing-Oriented April Fool's Story sweepstakes.

In short, a Lithuanian (or is it "Ukranian"? The copy and videos differ on this point) farmer discovers that the milk from one of his cows, Lola, tastes like cola because a neighboring bar is pouring beverage waste in his fields. That's when the forces of the media, global commerce and genetic engineering come into play.

An ensuing ad campaign carries the tagline "Made on Farms. Not in Factories" "and will include a TV ad that portrays 5,000 people from the 50 participating countries joining forces to create a giant human LED screen," we're told. It's supported by digital virals created by a Japanese shop, as well as the requisite social networking components and Web site.

As far as corporate pranksters go, check out the announcement that the autumn will bring the Plenta™ (128 fl oz) and Micra™ (2 fl oz) cups to a Starbucks near you.

Read the whole story at Brand Republic »