In what I surmise to be an April Fool’s joke, Decanter announced this morning that Paris Hilton would be the new face for Bordeaux. Not realizing that today was April 1 (wasn’t it just March, yesterday?), I immediately took the story at face value, but once I made the connection to the holiday, I had to laugh at my expense. The proposed tasteless tagline for the ad campaign: ‘Paris: One Night in Bordeaux’ should have tipped me off straight away, but it is early Sunday morning.

Yes, it is quite absurd that the prim and proper Bordelais would even consider identifying themselves with such a celebrity as Paris. However, the idea itself isn’t as crazy as it might seem. Whether you are a Paris fan (the socialite, not the city of lights) or not, it is undeniable that she sets trends and can be very influential, especially among younger consumers. Consequently, the use of Paris’ star power could be a big coup in terms of reaching Generation Y/Millennial consumers, who are only beginning to get into wine. This could be especially beneficial in terms of educating them about the Cru Bourgeois (if that ever gets settled) and generic-level Bordeaux wines, which are at more reasonable prices and need to find a market to relieve their overflowing wine lake.

In any case, it’s nice to see that Decanter has a sense of humor.