Some say puns are the lowest form of humour. A joke crafted through wordplay, often used to get reactions that range from giggles to sheer utter disgust – enough to make any dad feel proud of themselves.
German automaker Volkswagen (VW) is one such dad.
In a supposed “surprise” announcement on Twitter, the US presence of VW has revealed that it has seemingly rebranded itself in conjunction with the release of its new ID.4 all-electric SUV, as well as to reflect on its noble goal of achieving a fully electric automotive lineup in the foreseeable future. Just in case that wasn’t a subtle hint already, the new name that the esteemed German car brand has gone for is “Voltswagen.”
https://twitter.com/VW/status/1376868756782219266?s=20
“We know, 66 is an unusual age to change your name, but we’ve always been young at heart,” tweeted the company earlier today. “Introducing Voltswagen. Similar to Volkswagen, but with a renewed focus on electric driving.”
Thankfully, this supposed self-rediscovery may just be a sham. Or rather, a punchline to a joke that was delivered earlier than it was supposed to.
As most of us are aware by now, today is the last day of March – meaning to say that the first day of April, which is basically April Fool’s Day, is upon us. In Volkswa- sorry… Voltswagen’s case, the supposed gag kicked off early by two days (it’s still 30 March in the US at the time of writing this article) which resulted with raised eyebrows from both media and public alike. The more obvious tell is that the branding remains unchanged everywhere else outside of the country.
Worst still, a Reuters report cited several sources familiar with the matter, who seemingly confirmed that the name change is just a marketing stunt. According to the agency’s reporter David Shepardson, VW issued a statement saying that the rebranding was designed to be an announcement “in the spirit of April Fool’s Day”, with the aim of highlighting the launch of its new all-electric vehicle (EV) which was mentioned earlier.
VW pulls fake release and issues statement pic.twitter.com/Y7vPV6KFJT
— David Shepardson (@davidshepardson) March 30, 2021
As we’ve previously covered prior to this, it’s not uncommon for brands to pull off pranks such as these for the yearly occasion. Level Up KL pulled everyone’s leg last year by announcing the postponement of its event to a year later – which it didn’t, but was still ironically delayed regardless due to COVID-19. Perhaps the most infamous of all is the birth of the Razer Toaster obsession, which originally started as an April Fool’s joke. At least for these brands, their gags weren’t delivered prematurely.
(Source: Volkswagen US [Twitter] / Reuters / David Shepardson)
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