Photo: Volkswagen
Volkswagen must be new to this whole April Fools’ prank-pulling thing because it’s not doing it right. Less than 48 hours after news “leaked” that it was rebranding under the Voltswagen name and then confirming it, comes another statement saying it was all just a prank.
It’s ok if you lost track of what has come to be a hilarious lesson in how not to do marketing.
It all started with a leaked incomplete press release, posted to the official VW website, that the media caught wind of. It said that Volkswagen's U.S. EV would be called Voltswagen of America as of May 2021—with a “t” instead of a “k” to signify the brand’s ever-stronger commitment to electrification. The change implied a logo in lighter blue and the new Voltswagen brand identity stamped on all electric vehicles released here.
Against the sound of collectively-rolled eyeballs, VW pulled the supposedly leaked release. That couldn’t have been an April Fools’ joke, some said. For one, it was posted online on March 29. Secondly, VW could probably come up with a better, smarter, and actually funny prank than this one.
On March 30, VW issued a new press release, this time a complete one, to say that no, this wasn’t a prank; the name change was real. By effectively embracing a new brand identity, VW was determined to show that it was serious about EVs.
Several hours later, another statement has dropped, and, what do you know, it was a prank all along. Shame on us for assuming VW had a smarter sense of humor or, at the very least, the ability to pull off the prank—you know, at the right time, in the right form. If you’re going to do April Fools’, at least do it on the day.
“We didn’t mean to mislead anyone,” a Volkswagen Germany spokesperson tells The Wall Street Journal. “The whole thing is just a marketing action to get people talking about the ID.4.”
The BBC says that VW is expected to put out another statement today to set the record straight, namely that this was a joke. The only funny thing about it is how badly it came about.
Stunting. VW is not doing it right.
It all started with a leaked incomplete press release, posted to the official VW website, that the media caught wind of. It said that Volkswagen's U.S. EV would be called Voltswagen of America as of May 2021—with a “t” instead of a “k” to signify the brand’s ever-stronger commitment to electrification. The change implied a logo in lighter blue and the new Voltswagen brand identity stamped on all electric vehicles released here.
Against the sound of collectively-rolled eyeballs, VW pulled the supposedly leaked release. That couldn’t have been an April Fools’ joke, some said. For one, it was posted online on March 29. Secondly, VW could probably come up with a better, smarter, and actually funny prank than this one.
On March 30, VW issued a new press release, this time a complete one, to say that no, this wasn’t a prank; the name change was real. By effectively embracing a new brand identity, VW was determined to show that it was serious about EVs.
Several hours later, another statement has dropped, and, what do you know, it was a prank all along. Shame on us for assuming VW had a smarter sense of humor or, at the very least, the ability to pull off the prank—you know, at the right time, in the right form. If you’re going to do April Fools’, at least do it on the day.
“We didn’t mean to mislead anyone,” a Volkswagen Germany spokesperson tells The Wall Street Journal. “The whole thing is just a marketing action to get people talking about the ID.4.”
The BBC says that VW is expected to put out another statement today to set the record straight, namely that this was a joke. The only funny thing about it is how badly it came about.
Stunting. VW is not doing it right.
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