Maureen Wallenfang

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

The Bob’s Burgers sign was up for just one day – April 1 – draped over the Home Burger Bar’s sign at 205 W. College Ave. in downtown Appleton.

Fans of “Bob’s Burgers,” the animated TV show on Fox, realized what day it was and got the joke.

Inside, members of the Ferg family – Mandy, James and Bailee – and bartenders dressed up as characters from the show. Customers posted pictures on social media.

“It went viral by noon,” said Home Burger Bar co-owner Mandy Ferg. “By 1 o’clock, we were at a couple million views and made the front page of Reddit.”

The family was having fun with it, and customers responded. The bar sold out of burgers by 7:30 that night, something that had never happened before in their 15-months in business.

“But mixed in with that were the naysayers who said we’d get a cease-and-desist letter from the show,” Ferg said. “We didn’t worry about it.”

Then she got a notification of something waiting for her at FedEx.

Instead of a letter from a lawyer, it was a handwritten letter from the show’s executive producer, Jim Dauterive, saying they’d seen the spoof on the internet. “We LOVED your April Fool’s makeover,” he wrote. “Thanks for your support and enjoy the swag.” The Fed Ex box included “Bob’s Burgers” T-shirts, stickers and backpacks.

Ferg said they’ll frame the letter and put it up in the bar. “It was nice recognition from the people who created what we imitated.”

Maureen Wallenfang: 920-993-7116, or mwallenfang@postcrescent.com; on Twitter @wallenfang

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