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Dear Volkswagen: You lied to me. You lied to AP, CNBC, Reuters and various trade pubs. This was not a joke. It was deception. In case you hadn’t noticed, we have a misinformation problem in this country. Now you’re part of it. Why should anyone trust you again?

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Lora Kolodny

@lorakolodny

· Mar 30, 2021

Volkswagen's name change of U.S. 'Voltswagen' operations was April Fool's marketing prank, source says cnb.cx/39qcfRa by @MikeWayland @CNBC

9:21 PM · Mar 30, 2021Twitter for iPhone

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I asked my VW source directly: Yes, I see the announcement, but this is a joke, right? No, it’s not a joke, he said. Now they admit it was.

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Nathan Bomey

@NathanBomey

Mar 30, 2021

I am astonished that a company that — just a few years ago, mind you — paid $30 billion in penalties and pled guilty to criminal charges for **deceiving its customers and regulators to pollute the earth** now thinks it’s funny to lie to reporters.

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Nathan Bomey

@NathanBomey

Mar 31, 2021

To everyone out there celebrating the fact that VW lied to reporters, including me: We have common ground: Like you, I desperately want to restore trust in journalism. That's why it's so critical that we must be able to trust our sources. Without it, misinformation flourishes.

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Raises definite ethical issues here. Manipulating the press in order to further your own marketing campaign. Yikes

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and

Dude we all knew it was a joke

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Neal Boudette

@nealboudette

Mar 30, 2021

I did. Remember in 2003 when Wolfsburg changed its name to Golfsburg for a day to mark the Golf 5 launch...

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Reminds me of Elons April 1 teslaquila joke where he declared bankruptcy during a very tumultuous production ramp. Not cool to play a passionate public wishing for your success.

energyvest

@energyvest

Mar 30, 2021

Yeah but that was funny

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Replying to

When you're desperate because the id3 is an abysmal failure and your Electrify America infrastructure only works half the time, you'll do anything for publicity.

Farrendahl

@farrendahl

Mar 31, 2021

You do realise that just because something (in this case the id3) isn’t being sold in the US that doesn’t make it a failure right? Or do we need to remind you that the US is not the centre of the universe?

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