Tech CEOs Need Keep the April Fools' Jokes to Themselves

Dissimilar the agreeable gags of the past, this year's April Fools' Twenty-four hours was an incredible dud. Elon Musk, for case, "joked" that Tesla was broke.

The gag wasn't too big of a stretch, though, and Tesla stock took a dive on Monday. Oops. (No worries. Information technology rebounded on Tuesday.)

Tesla Goes Broke
Palo Alto, California, April one, 2022 -- Despite intense efforts to raise coin, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, nosotros are sad to study that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So broke, you can't believe it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) Apr 1, 2022

Musk missed the point hither; it was along the lines of telling your spouse that you have cancer, then saying "Apr Fools!" These jokes should be simple, obvious when deconstructed, and have hints within that they are, indeed, jokes. In a higher place all the joke is not on you, but on someone else.

I imagine in that location were more than than a few assembly who knew this was a bad idea, especially given speculation well-nigh Tesla's futurity and continuing issues with Autopilot.

It's likely that Musk thinks that every bit a CEO of a public company he tin can tweet whenever he wants to. Later on all, Trump does information technology and he's the president of the land. And then what mayhap could get wrong?

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Let'southward assume that Musk is monitored past corporate media folks. They have to worry about SEC rules and public perceptions. Did they tell Musk the tweet was not acceptable? Since Musk is perceived as a business genius, I can see him laughing off the concerns and convincing them that it was a archetype April Fools' joke and a great promotion for the company because it ridicules the Tesla skeptics.

Oh. Okay, boss.

Sadly, the internet has fabricated April Fools' gags useless and outdated. Every solar day is April Fools on the spider web. Hoaxes abound.

Another problem I accept is institutionalizing jokes. A kid in the sixth grade teasing a classmate is 1 thing, but a billion-dollar corporation making false announcements is a new level of tomfoolery.

Since April i is non recognized past any government say-so, I believe a corporation should be fined past regulatory agencies for false statements. If the stock price dips and you are solar day trading, you may have been defrauded.

Bring action confronting one of these corporations, and they will all suddenly realize that they are not comedians. Kickoff with Tesla.

About John C. Dvorak

John C. Dvorak

John C. Dvorak is a columnist for PCMag.com and the co-host of the twice weekly podcast, the No Agenda Bear witness. His work is licensed around the world. Previously a columnist for Forbes, PC/Calculating, Computer Shopper, MacUser, Barrons, the DEC Professional too every bit other newspapers and magazines. Former editor and consulting editor for InfoWorld, he as well appeared in the New York Times, LA Times, Philadelphia Enquirer, SF Examiner, and the Vancouver Sun. He was on the start-upwards team for C/Net too every bit ZDTV. At ZDTV (and TechTV) he hosted Silicon Spin for four years doing g live and alive-to-record Tv shows. His Net show Cranky Geeks was considered a …