French mayor apologises after April Fools’ joke promising thousands of Ikea jobs backfires
A mayor in France has apologised for an April Fools’ Day joke in which she announced on social media that Swedish furniture giant Ikea would be bringing some 4,000 new jobs to her city.
Mayor of Beauvais Caroline Cayeux took to Twitter and Facebook on April 1 with an announcement that the town had beat off competition from other areas in France to score a deal with the megastore.
The news was met with excitement from many social media users who didn’t realise it was an April Fools’ joke.
When the mayor later clarified the news wasn’t true, some of her followers criticised her for belittling unemployment.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Cayeux said she regretted the joke.
“I have too much respect for all those who are faced with the search for a job for it to be the subject of a joke,” she wrote.
She also emphasised the work she was doing to attract new businesses to the city, and stressed that a new commercial development would bring an estimated 4,000 new jobs to the area in the future.
“I am still working to reduce unemployment in our territory. I fight every day for my city and for business,” she said.
