Voltswagen: Poorly Planned April Fool Stunt May Cost The Company

The automotive brand Volkswagen has been in the industry for the past 66 years. It has made quite a name for itself. But then out of the blue, they let it circulate in the media that they are changing the name of the brand to Voltswagen in the United States. The company said that this was to show their focus on the increasing presence of electric cars.

Volkswagen to Voltswagen

They even took to Twitter stating the same and as you can see they even changed the name on the account. That said, the new name was never registered with the database.

We know, 66 is an unusual age to change your name, but we’ve always been young at heart. Introducing Voltswagen. Similar to Volkswagen, but with a renewed focus on electric driving. Starting with our all-new, all-electric SUV the ID.4 – available today. #Voltswagen #ID4 pic.twitter.com/pKQKlZDCQ7

— Voltswagen (@VW) March 30, 2021

This created a lot of hype as reporters and publications covered this news and even approached the company for confirmation. One USA Today reporter also took to his social media calling it, ‘official,’ of course after confirming from his VW sources who replied in affirmative for the name change.

Official. https://t.co/mzOUOqVXo9

— Nathan Bomey (@NathanBomey) March 30, 2021

Nope. April Fool!

But once everyone was talking about it, the company came forward saying it was only a prank for April Fool Day. CNBC reporter said:

Volkswagen's name change of U.S. 'Voltswagen' operations was April Fool's marketing prank, source says https://t.co/UcmnIMNaDZ by @MikeWayland @CNBC

— Lora Kolodny (@lorakolodny) March 30, 2021

The company said to an international publication that: “Volkswagen of America will not be changing its name to Voltswagen. The renaming was designed to be an announcement in the spirit of April Fool’s Day, highlighting the launch of the all-electric ID.4 SUV and signaling our commitment to bringing electric mobility to all. We will provide additional updates on this matter soon.”

But the fallout of this prank has been and will continue to be huge because as part of this prank, the company has enraged quite a number of journalists by lying to them. Especially the USA Today report was super pissed as you can see from his later tweets.

Dear Volkswagen: You lied to me. You lied to AP, CNBC, Reuters and various trade pubs. This was not a joke. It was deception. In case you hadn’t noticed, we have a misinformation problem in this country. Now you’re part of it. Why should anyone trust you again? https://t.co/1rcKT7p0u5

— Nathan Bomey (@NathanBomey) March 30, 2021

He even referred to a past event where Volkswagen had to pay billions of dollars in penalties for deceiving their customers.

I am astonished that a company that — just a few years ago, mind you — paid $30 billion in penalties and pled guilty to criminal charges for **deceiving its customers and regulators to pollute the earth** now thinks it’s funny to lie to reporters.

— Nathan Bomey (@NathanBomey) March 30, 2021

All over the internet, people are saying how the company took the joke a little too far. And it may not be the best way to do things for a company that has had credibility issues in the past.

Many brands do take part in April Fool campaigns. And honestly, it may just be luck, which brand is able to cash on it and which is not. But if you have had trouble of similar nature in the past, then it is better to focus on other marketing tactics especially since you can afford to.

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