Businesses and media outlets have a habit of pulling practical pranks on readers on April 1st. People have been played for fools or conned into believing something that was merely meant to be a joke on numerous instances in the past.
Hence, the general suggestion would be to take any wonderful new product announcement on April 1 with a grain of salt, especially if it sounds too good to be true. Many people were duped by a Tesla Motors statement in 2015 that the electric vehicle manufacturer would be launching a line of watches named the “Model W.”
The corporation made several statements in a press release from April 1, 2015, which is still accessible on its website, but which didn’t worry anyone.
According to the press release, “Model W” was as follows: It can tell the time no matter where you are on Earth and is infinitely adaptable. Anywhere: Japan, Timbuktu, California, etc. Your life will be altered by this. Your perception of reality will never be the same.
The statement continued, “You won’t need to rudely inspect your phone to read text messages any longer. Now no one will see you politely glancing at the tiny screen on your wrist.
Tesla’s stock increased immediately after the Model W announcement.
In its press release, Tesla even made the cheeky claim that the new watch was “in no way a competitive response to what any other firm is doing.” This claim was made shortly after Apple announced that it would introduce the Apple Watch, a computerised wristwatch, in April.
The first words of the press release really read: “Tesla today launched a completely new product line named the Model W. It’s a watch, as many in the media predicted. The letter “W” stands for that.
“Studies have proved the Model W would drastically improve your health,” it continued, mocking the Apple product, which bills itself as “the perfect device for a healthy existence.” if you exercise. Furthermore, platinum is a choice.
All of this apparently did not raise any alarms, as investors simply believed the title “Announcing the Tesla Model W.”
The announcement, which came with roughly five minutes left in the trading day, caused a spike in Tesla’s price inside the first minute. The stock increased by about 0.75 percent to as high as $188.50 in that minute, according to Reuters, and nearly 400,000 shares were traded during that time.
Tesla acknowledged in an email that their statement was a hoax on April 1st.
According to the story, the corporation actually issued two such notifications that day. The second joke involved a video promoting a new self-driving vehicle that assisted its Model S passengers in avoiding citations for parking and traffic infractions.
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