Updated March 31st, 2021 at 12:59 IST
'Massive Faultswagen': Netizens take Volkswagen's April Fool's Day joke one notch up
German carmaker Volkswagen on Monday said it was changing its name to Voltswagen to dive into the electric vehicle segment in the United States.
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German carmaker Volkswagen on Monday said it was changing its name to Voltswagen to dive into the electric vehicle segment in the United States. However, it later turned out that the company was playing a prank on its customers to mark April Fool’s Day. According to CNN, Volkswagen posted an unfinished press release on social media, announcing the company was changing its name to Voltswagen, where Volts signifies electricity.
'In spirit of April Fool's Day'
On Tuesday, Volkswagen shared the full draft of the press release on its US media site, pledging to rebrand to ‘Voltswagen’. But later on the same day, the German firm announced that the press release was just a joke in the spirit of ‘April Fool’s Day’. The draft copies that Volkswagen had published on Monday and Tuesday morning were removed from its US media site. The shaggy dog-story, which many believe is just a marketing stunt, is continuing on social media, where the company profile still has the rebranded name ‘Voltswagen’.
In Monday’s draft press release, Volkswagen had said that the company was changing its name for the American market in order to show its commitment towards the electric vehicle segment. The press release was picked up by several media outlets, including The Associated Press, who reported the joke as a news piece. On Tuesday, Volkswagen posted the full draft of the press release and revealed its intention to rebrand to Voltswagen in America.
Volkswagen pulled its announcement later on Tuesday and admitted that the post was just a joke to mark April Fool’s Day. As per CNN, Volkswagen, which was embroiled in the diesel emission scandal in America a couple of years ago, said the announcement was made to highlight the launch of its all-electric compact SUV in the United States. Here's how netizens reacted to Volkswagen's April Fool's prank.
Volkswagen is going to call its American electric cars Voltswagen. Nice nice. Now looking forward to the launch of Ampassador, Maruti Ohmni and Ford Fuseion.
— Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) March 30, 2021
VW Showing up in the US Market as "Voltswagen" be like: pic.twitter.com/MnKNZD4vqN
— 🍩 Donut (@JoeHarper) March 29, 2021
I can imagine the marketing guys in that meeting.
— Ipek Ozkardeskaya (@IpekOzkardeskay) March 29, 2021
‘GUYS I have a BRILLIANT IDEA!’#volkswagen #voltswagen pic.twitter.com/EbZ2ZtRfjm
We still doing these? #Voltswagen pic.twitter.com/PyXuy8sqGZ
— Ethan Jupp (@EthanIsSaying) March 30, 2021
As a German, I sympathise with #Voltswagen. When I make one of my bad jokes, people think I’m being serious. Twitter needs a German humour warning label. ⚠️🇩🇪😄
— Christian Odendahl (@COdendahl) March 31, 2021
This is not the first time a company decided to celebrate April Fool's Day with a fake press release as in 2012 BMW's Mini Cooper announced it was making an amphibious vehicle, which later turned out to be false.
(Image Credit: Unsplash/@VW/Twitter)
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Published March 31st, 2021 at 12:59 IST
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