Hedge Hoax

To celebrate Mustang’s European arrival, Ford cultivated a 60-meter Pony

By Steve Turner
Photos courtesy of Ford Motor Company

In the age of social media, April 1^st has become the day when you have to consider that everything you see online might be fake. It’s not a day to make any sort of proclamation that you want taken seriously. So, when we saw a story floated about a farmer who was so excited about the Mustang that he created a 60-meter shrine of plants, our defenses went up right away.

Of course, it didn’t take long before Ford admitted that the galloping green horse was all part of an elaborate hoax to celebrate the arrival of the Mustang on European soil.

“We found a farm in the U.K., which was perfect. It was close enough to nearby London Stansted Airport that there would be a good chance many of the 17.5 million travelers passing through each year would see the pony—if we made it big enough,” said the company. “The set-up was that a lifelong Mustang fan—unaware of the company’s plan—wanted to create a stunt to persuade Ford to bring the car to the U.K.”

That fake farmer was named Ted Kinsella and he had purportedly created this shrine from a plant called the Polar Foil, which is just an anagram of April Fool. The real plants are called Euonymous Emerald Gold shrubs, and it took six days, 20 people, and 35,000 shrubs to create the giant running horse.

You can see the fake news story here…

“I like to call it my field of dreams,” the fake farmer said in the report. “I always dreamt that one day Mustang would be on sale in the U.K. —and that if I plant it maybe they’ll come.”

The prank was obviously inspired by the Kevin Costner movie, field of dreams, but Ford soon revealed the real story behind the galloping green Mustang…

Even if we didn’t fall for the prank, we have to appreciate the effort that went into creating it, and the passion for Mustang that it represents.

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