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https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/30/22357166/volkswagen-name-change-voltswagen-us-division https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/30/22357166/volkswagen-name-... > The

by cyral 6y ago

https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/30/22357166/volkswagen-name-change-voltswagen-us-division https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/30/22357166/volkswagen-name-... > The proximity of the name change to April Fool’s Day initially raised suspicions that it was just a joke. But VW insists that it’s a real thing, so here we are.

HenryKissinger 6y ago
Until companies insistence that this the real thing becomes itself part of the joke.
- spathi_fwiffo 6y ago
  Maybe the most brilliant time to rebrand; always have that "it was really just a joke" line to fall back on.
crazygringo 6y ago
> "The company was apparently planning to make the announcement at the end of April but accidentally published a press release about the name change early Monday afternoon, which was first spotted by CNBC before it was taken down. The proximity of the name change to April Fool’s Day initially raised suspicions that it was just a joke. But VW insists that it’s a real thing, so here we are." Sounds to me like a publicity stunt -- they "accidentally published" a press release a month early? Sorry, that doesn't happen. Seems like trying to generate buzz on social media, then they'll quietly "decide" not to change the name after all, but people associating VW with electric cars more so -- mission accomplished.
- bellyfullofbac 6y ago
  Huh, why does the name change have to be announced 2-3 days before in your world? They would need to send new stationery and signage to dealers, so the chatter would start in the coming week or 2 anyway... Why not pre-empt that with a press release.
  - crazygringo 6y ago
    I didn't say anything like that, where did you get "2-3 days" from or "signage"? VW themselves said they didn't plan to put out the press release for a month. They didn't say anything about the timing of "stationery or signage". Did you mean to reply to a different comment...?
- __david__ 6y ago
  You find it that hard to believe that someone typed the wrong date into a CMS?
  - sib 6y ago
    No, but I find it very hard to believe that a gigantic company had a press release finalized and sitting in a CMS a month in advance, just waiting for time to pass. (Source: have worked in 3 large public companies and seen how these things come down to the wire with approvals from PR, Marketing, IR, Legal, Country Leadership, Corporate, etc...)
    - crazygringo 6y ago
      Exactly. If I had a dollar for every press release at every public company that was written and finalized a month in advance... ...I'm pretty sure I'd have zero dollars.
stingrae 6y ago
they got the twitter account voltswagen verified, https://twitter.com/voltswagen https://twitter.com/voltswagen. which makes me believe it is real.
ricardobayes 6y ago
It was April Fool's https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/30/volkswagens-name-change-of-us-voltswagen-operations-was-april-fools-marketing-prank-source-says.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/30/volkswagens-name-change-of-u...

by cyral 6y ago

HenryKissinger 6y ago

Until companies insistence that this the real thing becomes itself part of the joke.

spathi_fwiffo 6y ago
Maybe the most brilliant time to rebrand; always have that "it was really just a joke" line to fall back on.

crazygringo 6y ago

> "The company was apparently planning to make the announcement at the end of April but accidentally published a press release about the name change early Monday afternoon, which was first spotted by CNBC before it was taken down. The proximity of the name change to April Fool’s Day initially raised suspicions that it was just a joke. But VW insists that it’s a real thing, so here we are." Sounds to me like a publicity stunt -- they "accidentally published" a press release a month early? Sorry, that doesn't happen. Seems like trying to generate buzz on social media, then they'll quietly "decide" not to change the name after all, but people associating VW with electric cars more so -- mission accomplished.

bellyfullofbac 6y ago
Huh, why does the name change have to be announced 2-3 days before in your world? They would need to send new stationery and signage to dealers, so the chatter would start in the coming week or 2 anyway... Why not pre-empt that with a press release.
- crazygringo 6y ago
  I didn't say anything like that, where did you get "2-3 days" from or "signage"? VW themselves said they didn't plan to put out the press release for a month. They didn't say anything about the timing of "stationery or signage". Did you mean to reply to a different comment...?
__david__ 6y ago
You find it that hard to believe that someone typed the wrong date into a CMS?
- sib 6y ago
  No, but I find it very hard to believe that a gigantic company had a press release finalized and sitting in a CMS a month in advance, just waiting for time to pass. (Source: have worked in 3 large public companies and seen how these things come down to the wire with approvals from PR, Marketing, IR, Legal, Country Leadership, Corporate, etc...)
  - crazygringo 6y ago
    Exactly. If I had a dollar for every press release at every public company that was written and finalized a month in advance... ...I'm pretty sure I'd have zero dollars.

stingrae 6y ago

they got the twitter account voltswagen verified, https://twitter.com/voltswagen https://twitter.com/voltswagen. which makes me believe it is real.

ricardobayes 6y ago

It was April Fool's https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/30/volkswagens-name-change-of-us-voltswagen-operations-was-april-fools-marketing-prank-source-says.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/30/volkswagens-name-change-of-u...