April Fools’ Day is usually a pretty interesting day around
Mercantile Headquarters. Robin is our chief prankster, and she’s gotten
some of us pretty good over the years. There was the time she told me
Jorge Bouche called from 202-456-1111 and asked that I call him back.
Turns out that’s the White House phone number, and you can guess what
they said when I asked for “Jorge Bouche.” She also got Ken, our
receptionist, when she had him call “Harry Lyons” at 407-323-4450 (the
Central Florida Zoo).
She’s also been known to rearrange offices, tamper with phones and
keyboards, and even turn pictures upside down in frames. But the most
memorable one was when she made Dirt Cake — cream cheese, cool whip,
crushed Oreos, etc. — for the whole office. Instead of the
cream cheese and whipped topping, she used mayonnaise and vinegar. More
than a few of us had a mouthful of the junk before we realized what
she’d done. Funny in retrospect…I guess.
Luckily, Robin now works from home. In Ohio. Hopefully April Fools’
Day will be a nice quiet day around our offices (in Orlando). In truth,
we all like a good prank, and we’ve pulled a few corporate ones, too.
Here are the last three major April Fools’ Day announcements we’ve done:
Two years ago, we issued a press release
announcing our involvement in bringing elephant soccer to the United
States in the form of the
Elephant Football League (the EFL). Believe it or not, elephant soccer really happens…just not in Central Florida. Yet.
In 2010, we announced that we found a
loophole in the SBA lending manual allowing us to fund eligible
international projects with SBA 504 loans. The first commercial loan
issued under this international provision helped renovate and modernize
the
Reykjavik National Fish Cannery and Holistic Health Spa, according to our press release. You have to
see it to believe it.
We changed our company name at the end of
March in 2009 from Mercantile Commercial Capital to Mercantile Capital
Corporation (all those t-shirts, hats, and umbrellas with our old
branding became instant collectors’ items). When we wrote the press
release about our name-change, we also mentioned that we had negotiated a
major deal with government officials (behind closed doors, of course)
that granted us
naming rights for the SBA 504 loan program
among other things. We even included a quote from Treasury spokesman,
Dr. Lopo Flairs (an anagram for April Fools) — something I was
particularly proud of.
So, will we do something this year? Probably not. I’ve been out of
the office most of the week, and we’re closed on Friday for a three-day
weekend. I just don’t think we’ll have time to put something together.
Besides, these things usually rub somebody the wrong way and we end up
having to issue a follow-up announcement/apology.
Are you a prankster, or have you been the victim of April Fools’ Day
shenanigans? Share your best April Fools’ story with me by leaving a
comment below or emailing me at
ChrisHurn@MercantileCC.com. The best story gets a prize. Seriously.
Happy Early April Fools’ Day…and Happy Easter and Passover (chag sameach), too!
-Chris
P.S. We didn’t get a 2012 April Fools’ prank done in time because I was busy
testifying before Congress in Washington, D.C. Leave it to the government to put a damper on all the fun, right?
P.P.S. One thing we never joke about: providing
smarter financing for small business commercial real estate projects
better than anyone else. If you or someone you know is looking to
purchase, construct, or renovate commercial property, call me at
1-866-622-4504 or email me at
ChrisHurn@MercantileCC.com.
