THIS is a public flogging (not for Jacob Zuma for a change), but for our very own ace journalist and self-confessed ‘Belieber’, David Glen Rush.
Yes, dear disgruntled readers, Dave is the culprit who came up with the idea of using a photograph of Justin Bieber on the front page of the Herald last week, mischievously advertising that the teen idol was to do a once-off concert at the Ugu Sports and Leisure Centre on Friday, April 1.
Butthead himself was even fooled for a while and only clicked when he notice David’s cheesy grin.
Well, many whose hopes of throwing undergarments at Justin were dashed will be pleased to hear that Dave’s ill-conceived April Fool’s prank backfired on him in spades.
‘Foolishly’ (in his own right), Dave included the Herald’s telephone number in the caption for people to call to buy tickets and our switchboard was jammed with calls from the moment the paper hit the streets.
One of our receptionists, Angel Mkize, can thank last week’s taxi strike for helping her escape most of it, but our ‘Superwoman’, Bev Copeland, estimated that she alone had to field at least 700 calls.
Dave has had to buy her chocolates ever since to make amends and management had no hesitation in choosing Bev for the ‘Employee of the Month’ award.
Granted, there were one or two people who were rather put out by the prank and it’s perfectly understandable. As fellow journalist Libby Cochrane said: “People don’t like their own intelligence being tampered with.”
But most did see the funny side: “I will never ‘belieb’ anything the Herald writes again,” joked one caller.
One mother was just about to fly her ‘Belieber’ daughter down from Benoni for the concert, but luckily phoned the Herald first to see if there were any tickets left.
Margate Wimpy owner Eddie Walker said he had upcountry customers who had actually extended their holiday by a day so their 16-year-old daughter could attend the concert. It is not known how mom and dad made amends.
Not satisfied with leaving it at that, Dave then decided to move his warped sense of mischief to the web and posted a story on the Herald’s site that SANRAL was going to erect Gauteng-type toll gates on South Coast highways.
‘Belieb’ it or not, this also fooled quite a few people who responded with angst.
How is it that people are so easily fooled on this day ever year? Are we all so trusting and gullible?
Perhaps the answer lies in the current state of affairs in South Africa.
If you believed our president when he apologised after the recent Concourt finding and said he had “always planned to pay back the money”… then you’ll believe anything.
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