A&R’s April Fools Round-Up

If it hasn’t become apparent by now, we love us some April Fools here at Asphalt & Rubber, because like Christmas, the real joy in the holiday isn’t in the act of receiving, but in the act of giving. It’s perhaps at this time of year where the media side of the motorcycle industry reaches its zenith of creativity, producing eloquent prose, perfect press releases, and some of the most superb photo re-touches we’ve ever seen. We have in fact many maestros in our presence, and we wanted to share our Top 3 picks of the days festivities.

And our role in all this? Well we’re firm believers in the idea that if you’re going to do something wrong, then it’s best to do it right. Instead of trying to fabricate a story or two, and then convince you that they were real (that’s so 2010 by the way), we decided to switch things up and publish two stories (here & here) that we knew to be fundamentally true, and convince you that they were in fact fake. April Fools.

As for our favorite pieces of work from our colleagues, we have three that stood out in different respects:

Best Photoshop Work: OmniMoto.it – Scramblster 2011: pronta la tutto terreno Ducati

Perhaps one of the first stories we saw this morning, OmniMoto published news that Ducati would be unveiling a Scrambler version of the Monster 796, set to debut at WDW 2011. Including even an appropriate explanation of how the bike would be unveiled to owners of the vintage version of the machine, this is the type of April Foolery that you wish was true. The story was plausible, there were great details, and reasoning behind the event, but best of all there were photoshops that could pass as real McCoy. Top work, and whoever did the renders probably deserves a raise.

Most Humorous: Ducati News Today – Ducati Diavel Starbucks Special Edition

Oh we love us some Ducatisti bashing (easy in the comments section, there’s a Ducati in this garage as well…if you can’t laugh at yourself, then what can you laugh at?), and while we rather enjoyed our time on the Ducati Diavel, we can see why some Bologna Brand owners might not be as keen on the machine. Accordingly our friends at Ducati News Today held back no punches today, leveling a couple body blows at the Italian company, while getting in some jabs on its product partnerships as well. Add in a certain coffee making corporation to our rainier north, and you’ve got yourself a humorous recipe for some social commentary, motorcyclist style. The $162 Starbucks gift card, you know…for each of the Diavel’s 162hp, put things over the top, and had us rolling on the floor for a while. We’ll have to send DNT a bill for our keyboard replacement.

Best Satire: Canadian Motorcycle Group Online – Big Changes at CMG

If you’re not familiar with what’s going on with that other North American country, the Canadian government has seen it fit to bailout its print industry because magazines and newspapers up there, as is the case with those down here, have failed to catch on to the changing tastes of how people digest their information and media. The Canadian goverment’s actions are really only hindering web publications, like CMG, who have been onto this internet fad from the get-go.

Reinforcing the point that this is the wrong thing to do, CMG slathers on a layer of satire to the situation, stating that it would be reverting to a print format for its future news releases. The issue of how ridiculous the Canadian government is acting on this matter is eloquently done in the article’s ridiculous explanation for CMG’s supposed new focus, and making mention of an online version that consists of a PDF that makes a page turning sound, sound utterly absurd until you realize that’s exactly what some publications in this industry are actually implementing.

Throw in a couple references to another publication that was apparently not up or incapable of the creative task of participating in this April Fools Day, yet charged its readership for its inadequacies, and you’ve got a pretty spot-on piece about how silly some people can be about how the internet, information, and media all work together.

Top 5 Related Posts:

1. Fun with Photoshop: Ducati Tron Lightcycle
2. Nicky Hayden’s Ducati Diavel Concept
3. Rendered: Ducati 1199 Panigale Race Replicas
4. Ducati Monster 848R Concept by Isaac Chavira