A PR company based in London is offering its clients an April Fools story on behalf of the charity Practical Action. (PS – this is not our April Fools story)

Fair enough, you might say – PR companies are in the business of trying to drum up attention for their clients.

Except the April Fools joke is that the charity is offering “reverse liposuction” to inject “unwanted fat” into “the bodies of starving people in Africa”.

The PR company – BBPR – even offer a spoof video (below) and a website to go with it.

Here’s the email someone from BBPR sent out:

On 30 March 2011 12:28, Michael Sheen wrote:
Not sure whether you guys are doing your own April Fools story this year or will be doing a round-up of others, but please find below a spoof news story for April Fools’ Day on behalf of charity Practical Action.

Harley St clinic the Klaxon Institute is pioneering a new cosmetic surgical procedure – reverse liposuction. This takes the unwanted fat from Western liposuction patients and injects it into the bodies of starving people in Africa, freeing them having to look after their own crops and livestock.

Klaxon has launched a promotional video that explains more here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmg2p3E_Guc

And you can visit their website, and register your interest in donating, here: http://klaxoninstitute.com/

However, it’s a spoof with a point, bringing to life the shortcomings of quick-fix, relief aid as opposed to the long-term, sustainable solutions Practical Action offers.

I hope this is of interest. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or need anything else. I’m on 020 3451 9440.

Kind regards,
Michael

[Thanks to http://northbriton45.blogspot.com for the tip-off]

Here’s the video

Here’s the spoof story

KLAXON INSTITUTE LAUNCHES FREE REVERSE LIPOSUCTION TREATMENT
Look good and feel good for free with the Klaxon Institute

London, 1 April 2011: A revolutionary new cosmetic procedure that could simultaneously eradicate both UK’s obesity crisis and starvation in the third world is being offered to British patients for free by leading cosmetic surgery practice the Klaxon Institute.

For a limited period, patients of the Klaxon Institute, based in London’s Harley St, will be able to register their interest in a free course of reverse-liposuction.

This process, developed by Klaxon Institute founder Dr Herod Richards, involves the surgical removal of excess fatty tissue from patients, as with the standard liposuction process.

But this fat is then stored and flown to the third world, where it is injected into the bodies of people suffering from starvation, allowing them to survive for months without having to struggle to feed themselves.

And now with reserves of fat running low, for a short time we are offering the service for free. In these tough times, liposuction won’t cost you a penny – but it will change a life.

So, if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to shed some pounds, why not lose that weight and gain the appreciation of someone worse off than you, by signing up for the reverse-liposuction procedure?

Dr Richard H. Klaxon, the founder of the Klaxon Institute says of the offer:
“Our techniques here make liposuction an opportunity to change yourself and the world for the better. It is my hope the public will take up this unique free opportunity and help themselves and others.

“It is said that give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day. Well, I say that by skipping the actual fish, a man would not need to be fed for months – and nor would he need to be taught how to fish.”

If you would like to find out more information about the procedure or indeed sign up for a free reverse-liposuction, then please visit the website at www.klaxoninstitute.com

Do these people not have bad-taste detectors? WTF?

Updated: I’ve changed the story to focus on the charity itself – Practical Action. It turns out that they’ve tried the same spoof before. They’re just recycling the video as an April Fools story. (hat-tip Alice in the comments)

Reader comments

1. Liberal Conspiracy

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2. Robert Morgan

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3. Rosa

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4. sunny hundal

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5. Abdul-Azim Ahmed

   RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

6. Stuart Neyton

   RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

7. Lorraine Janectic

   RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

8. Chris Atkins

   RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

9. dadefjam

   RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

10. Matt Zarb-Cousin

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

11. Greg Callus

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

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    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

13. Andy Spry

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

14. Lee Hyde

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

15. James Tanner

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16. nobby-Lobby

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

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    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

18. smithdown

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

19. Jonathan Haynes

    #EPICFAIL RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

20. Christy Quinn

    Oh dear… Oh dear. PR company offers April Fools story: ‘liposuction to feed Africans’ | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/hcVtB3b via @libcon

21. Alexander Smith

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

22. Viki Johnson

    Omg, PA had nought 2 do with this right? MT@sunny_hundal PR firm offers #Aprilfools story 'liposuction 2 feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

23. Bakka

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

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25. Deb VonWagner

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26. sunny hundal

    Charity April Fools: ‘liposuction to feed Africans’ | Liberal Conspiracy http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

27. sunny hundal

    We've updated the story: 'Charity offers April Fools story: reverse-liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

28. Lorraine Janectic

    RT @sunny_hundal: We've updated the story: 'Charity offers April Fools story: reverse-liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

29. Laurence Durnan

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30. jameshipwell

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

31. Adam West

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32. Kevin Davidson

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

33. Slippery-Genius

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

34. Andrew Bloch

    Oh dear! RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

35. Natalie Wheeler

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36. Dylan Holman

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37. Kat Hannaford

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38. Ahmar Mustikhan

    RT @sunny_hundal: We've updated the story: 'Charity offers April Fools story: reverse-liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

39. Emma Cowlard

    Brave PR, but I am not sure it paints the right type of picture for Practical Action or Africa for that matter http://bit.ly/hTJtVQ !

40. Danielle H

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

41. Natalie Torbett

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42. Sam Phillips

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43. richard peppiatt

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

44. Dan Hearn

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

45. Gerrys Blog » Blog Archive » #aprilfools | Canned Dogs » Blog Archive » April fools

    [...] PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction for Africans … [...]

46. John Hill

    If a PR company ever offered me junk like this, I'd block their emails and calls. And probably bop them with something http://bit.ly/e2WwMv

47. MattPotter

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

48. rob jewitt

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

49. kneegnaw

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

50. Sara Willcocks

    RT @sunny_hundal: WTF were they thinking? PR company offers April Fools story: 'liposuction to feed Africans' http://bit.ly/fHJ9AV

51. Willard Foxton

    @GoodandBadPR @therealPRmoment This shockingly ill-judged April fool is up there: http://bit.ly/e2WwMv

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