FRANKFURT: German car giant Volkswagen voiced regret Wednesday over a publicity stunt that duped major media outlets and was criticised by AFP as a “breach of trust”. The outrage came after Volkswagen just a day earlier said in a press release it would be changing the name of its US subsidiary to “Voltswagen” to highlight its shift towards electric cars.
The announcement, two days shy of April Fool’s Day, raised eyebrows but company spokespeople insisted it was genuine, resulting in widespread media coverage before VW eventually revealed that the rebrand was a joke dreamt up by its marketing team. “Volkswagen of America developed... a national US marketing campaign, with a wink, to draw attention to Volkswagen’s e-offensive,” VW spokesman Christoph Ludewig told AFP.
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