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The outrage came after Volkswagen accidentally released a press release on Tuesday saying it would change the name of the US division to Volkswagen of America to highlight the company’s “future-oriented investment in electric mobility.”
The announcement, made two days before Liar’s Day on April 1, came as a surprise, but company representatives assured him that the announcement was genuine. However, Volkswagen eventually revealed that the name change was a joke devised by the marketing team.
“Volkswagen of America (the idea) was conceived by the US national marketing team to draw attention to the electrification of Volkswagen,” Volkswagen spokesman Cristoph Ludewig told AFP.
“From the beginning, the goal was to highlight an important issue for America’s business and industry,” he said.
“The large amount of positive comments on social media shows that we have achieved the goal. At the same time, however, we will regret if we have crossed the line in the eyes of some, ”added Ch. Ludewigas.
Journalists reacted fiercely to the company’s promotional stunt, with some saying the move was a lack of tact, especially for the company, which is still on the mend after 2015. The diesel scandal, which forced Volkswagen to admit it had installed software in their cars that changed the pollution data.
Phil Chetwynd, AFP’s global news director, appealed directly to the Volkswagen Group to oppose the fraud.
“We understand when a representative cannot confirm or comment on certain information. However, we never expect them to make false statements, “he wrote.
“We believe that companies like Volkswagen should not use serious news portals and journalists for advertising and marketing purposes. For us, this represents a very serious breach of trust that cannot happen again,” said Ph. Chetwyndas.
USA Today business news reporter Nathan Bomey also expressed his anger and accused Volkswagen of lying to reporters.
“It just came to our attention then. It was a hoax. If you haven’t noticed, this country faces a misinformation problem. Now you’ve become part of it. Why should anyone trust you again?” He asked rhetorically. On twitter.
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