Online Public Relations Thoughts

Volkswagen pulled off an April Fools prank, which unfortunately went bad.  It claimed in a press release that it was changing its name to Voltswagen to recognize its commitment to electric vehicles.  The media believed the company and widely reported the name change.  It wasn't until later the company fessed up and pulled the release from its web site.  Reporters were not amused.  They don't like to be taken in.  Still, it was a good joke and it follows in the tradition of companies, notably Google, that for years announced bizarre things as if they were real.  The media caught on and wasn't taken in by Google's fun, but no one suspected the buttoned-up, German company to be able to do the same thing.  April Fools.