VW Goes Into Damage Control Mode As ‘Joke’ Goes Viral

We at the radio station get a memo every year, late in March, reminding us, no April Fool's jokes. In other words, "don't be that person", that person who ends up saying, it seemed like a good idea at the time, after a seemingly harmless prank blows up.

As tempting as it is to get into the fray, I believe it's best to leave it to the big players. They can afford the negative publicity, and they have the personnel to put out fires and do spin control.

All this has been brought up again because Volkswagen put a a statement earlier this week, saying it was all in on the electrification of the Volkswagen and was changing its name to "Voltswagen". Cute idea. Now, they're backtracking and telling anyone who will listen, it was all an early April Fool's joke.

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Is it worth all the hubbub? No. But after a year of pandemic and quarantine, we are starved for anything to talk about. Add to that, that nerves are raw, and, there is a segment of the population looking to be offended, and here we are. I don't see anyone offended here, just a few confused people wondering what is going on. The answer is nothing. It's was a marketing hoax and but in that sense, we are talking about VW, though I haven't mentioned the SUV they were promoting.  With this story, it's "what the big deal." There isn't any. The public is bored. And that's the worst thing you can say about this.