Thread by @opinion

This week, Volkswagen taught us how not to do an April Fool’s Day joke.

It also provided us a lesson in just how difficult it is to emulate Elon Musk trib.al/VRBiCHj

Here’s the lowdown if you haven’t heard:

⚡️VW’s U.S. arm claimed it was changing its corporate name to “Voltswagen”
⚡️Denied it was an April Fools’ Day joke
⚡️Then admitted that it actually was an April Fools gone wrong

It wasn't even April 1st yet trib.al/VRBiCHj

VW has been riding a wave of investor excitement about its electric cars.

Thanks in part to some clever marketing, it seemed to have cracked Elon Musk’s knack for share-price boosting publicity. VW preference shares are close to a six-year high trib.al/VRBiCHj

News of the supposed name change helped VW’s U.S. depositary receipts — the ones favored by retail investors — to climb as much as 12.5% on Tuesday.

That’s where this cringeworthy incident goes from being a bad joke to something potentially more serious trib.al/VRBiCHj

VW’s gaffe is unlikely to be seen as an attempt to manipulate the stock market, but it’s a reminder that we now live in the meme-stock age where even bad jokes can add or subtract billions of dollars in market value.

It’s a minefield to navigate trib.al/VRBiCHj

In an era of fake news, the lighthearted April Fools’ Day tradition of companies spinning tall tales has lost its charm.

Reporters from trusted outlets such as the Associated Press are furious at having been lied to by VW and made to look foolish trib.al/VRBiCHj

It’s easy to say VW should just focus on building cars and leave the jokes to people who are actually funny.

With an ambitious and convincing electric-vehicle plan, it may soon leapfrog Tesla to become the world’s largest battery-vehicle manufacturer trib.al/VRBiCHj

But being ploddingly German is an impediment in today’s stock market.

Elon Musk’s counterculture savvy and feisty irreverence has made him a hero for Redditors.

It would be self-defeating if VW didn’t try to be a bit “cooler” trib.al/VRBiCHj

Tesla has weaponized its share price to raise billions of dollars, which pays for new factories and products.

VW must fund its investments via the cash it generates. Even after this year’s run, its share price is less than 10x the value of its earnings trib.al/VRBiCHj

There’s also a double-standard in play. We expect VW to be reliable, while Tesla gets to be quirky.

For example, Musk recently appointed himself Technoking and his chief financial officer Master of Coin.

That wasn’t a joke trib.al/VRBiCHj