It did seem too magical to be true.
The tiny, white, pink-maned pony that was reportedly spotted wandering around Île Sainte-Hélène has proven to be a fake.
A reporter for TVA’s show, Vlog, wanted to see how fast he could spread fake news for a new segment on the French TV network.
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Daily Hive initially reported the hoax, clearly questioning the likelihood of the sighting being real. When reached yesterday by Daily Hive, Employees of the Société du Parc Jean-Drapeau had not confirmed sightings of the pink-maned pony.
Sauvons le mini-cheval/Facebook
Over 500 people were also duped into following the “Sauvons le mini-cheval” Facebook page, which was set up to share sightings of the magical animal.
A tweet from J. Serge Sasseville, the Senior VP of Corporate and Institutional Affairs for Quebecor, the company that owns TVA, posted their confession to social media on Wednesday night.
“TVA’s Vlog, a team that promotes the phenomena of social media, recently tested the impact of odd news on virtual platforms to study its ability to go viral,” he wrote. “They created a fake profile with the support of photos on Facebook and Reddit, to have seen a pony with a pink mane at Parc Jean-Drapeau last Sunday. Given the widespread reporting of the news on Wednesday, the Vlog test has now concluded. The results of the experience will be revealed shortly.”
Communiqué de @VlogTVA : VLOG – Test de viralité pic.twitter.com/WYXDYtKy1I
— J.Serge Sasseville (@SergeSasseville) April 17, 2019
It looks like no mini, magical, pink-maned ponies will be gracing us with their presence this Easter weekend. We’ll just have to settle for bunny rabbits that hand out chocolate eggs instead.
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