Volkswagen is under fire in the United States for a pretty unsuccessful April 1 joke. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US stock market watchdog, is launching an investigation into the joke.
Every year it is a bit of a gray area for car manufacturers: when do you make an April 1 joke and how far can you go in it? Volkswagen went quite wrong in that regard this year. It changed its name in the US to ‘Voltswagen’ two days before April 1, updated it on all social media channels and released to various renowned media (including Automotive News and Reuters) know it wasn’t a joke. Not entirely unbelievable, as it was just two days early. Then it turned out to be a joke, intended to draw attention to the American introduction of the ID4. Even before it was actually April 1, Volkswagen’s marketing department in the US backed down with embarrassment.
Angry reactions in the media and on social media were the result, but that seemed to end the stocking for the time being. Nothing could be further from the truth, it now appears. The SEC is investigating the joke, reports Der Spiegel. The stock market watchdog has reasons to believe that the joke has positively influenced Volkswagen’s stock price and that is of course a problem if that happens through deception. According to the German medium, Volkswagen states that it was never the intention to influence the course with this joke. That indeed seems a bit far-fetched. Nevertheless, an investigation has now been conducted, which Volkswagen claims Der Spiegel cooperates nicely. Next year around April 1, it will perhaps remain silent for a while on the American branch of Volkswagen.