Ugh. It’s April Fool’s Day time again. Way back when Ethics Alarms was just a little newborn ethics blog, I called out a New York defense lawyer for posting a fake announcement on his blog on April 1. Apparently he was in the habit of doing this, but the New York Times didn’t notice the date and printed his announcement as news. I wrote that it was unethical for a lawyer, who is by definition a trusted professional, to publish fake announcements even as an April Fools joke.
I was immediately pounced upon by several blogging lawyers, whose argument was that if the fake post didn’t call into question the blogger’s fitness to practice law, it wasn’t unethical. Ah yes, the old compliance vs. ethics confusion! My fault: I should have clarified the distinction in the post. No, doing a joke blog entry does not reach the level of “dishonesty, fraud, misrepresentation and deceit” prohibited in Rule 8.4, “Misconduct,” in all the various jurisdiction rules, so it is not technically unethical. Nonetheless, for a lawyer, who is a member of a profession that must have the public trust, to play such games is 1) irresponsible, 2) damaging to the profession’s public image and 3) a really bad idea, aka. incompetent. It fails the basic utilitarian test as well: is the result worth the cost? Hardly. But I wasn’t sufficiently clear enough in defending my position—which was correct—so I finally concluded and admitted that no, the fake blog post was not unethical by the standards of the Rules of Professional Conduct, legal ethics. What I should have said was that the conduct was unprofessional. Professionalism is legal ethics above and beyond the rules.
This is to introduce the unethical publication of the above silly fake announcement by Tampa International Airport. I would say “needless to say” here except that apparently it does need to be said, at least for the benefit of the administrators of that airport: the public neither wants not expects April Fools gags from airports. Air travel is serious business, especially lately, which is a fact I would have assumed that an airport’s staff would be especially sensitive to.
Predictably, some social media followers took the announcement to be genuine. ‘”Is this real? This feels like the most petty post I’ve ever read,” one person wrote on Twitter-X. “I’m confused, I fly to Tampa every year from Pittsburgh when headed to Clearwater. Is it closed?” another ‘X’er wrote. “I don’t know what’s going on, but my wife just lectured me about flamingos, Lakeland, and a closing airport in Tampa” was another comment. “Does this have something to do with TDA privatization?” another reader queried. “What’s up with Tampa airport?” wrote a concerned traveler.
Oh, lighten up! We’re just joshing! the airport’s wags revealed in a follow-up message from a spokesperson:
“The airport did not close and is not closing— the goal of the post was to creatively highlight our 100 nonstop destinations and showcase our beloved public art program, with the large flamingo (nicknamed “Phoebe” by the community) being one of its most iconic pieces. While a small handful of accounts may have misunderstood the humor, the vast majority embraced it in the spirit it was intended.”
So now patrons of the airport have discovered w that it is run by unprofessional jerks who, in addition to not comprehending that an airport is not the place for hoaxes, gags and hi-jinks, also aren’t very good at satire. In short, the airport management is irresponsible and in inflicted with terrible judgment.
Good to know…I guess.
___________
Pointer: Old Bill
Ethics Alarms 
There are times I wonder whether “casual Friday” and not dressing up to go to work hasn’t blurred the difference between work and play to a debilitating degree. Didn’t anyone say, “Wait. This is work. We’re not goofing around here.” Are there any adults in the organization? No one to say, “Uh, no. We’re not going to do that.” Another aspect of behavior that elicits another, “What’s wrong with these people?” It’s as if they’re acting in a television sit-com and want to write the show’s script. Maybe they have a laugh track in their office. And what is it about “public relations” that they don’t understand? It’s their JOB to maintain a proper relationship with THE PUBLIC! Anyway, thanks for putting this in its proper perspective, as always. All I can mount is a hearty “Geto off my lawn!”
I don’t get too upset about April fools postings, if they are posted ON April 1st. I mean, I still think it’s a bad idea for a number of businesses, but there’s at least some sort of context. Doing it days in advance is just moronic.
I still find it funny that someone actually implemented IP over carrier pigeon.
In addition, this is incredibly mean-spirited. This isn’t an April Fool’s joke, this is petty pouting. An April Fool’s announcement would be something like this:
Tampa International Airport is happy to announce that we have succeeded in integrating our flamingo flights into our existing air traffic control system. In cooperation with Elon Musk, we have successfully install NerualinkTM in all local flamingo. This has allowed us to integrated them into our air traffic control system, clear them for landings a departures, and make our overall flying experience more orderly.
<Insert AI video of flamingo moving on taxiway with the dialogue below. “Flamingo X-ray Victor 39, take taxiway 5 right to runway 3 and hold”>
I may have found the most expensive April Fool’s joke ever…
On a related note.. Reality court shows like this, or Judge Judy ect…. How bullshit are they? Are these findings actually upheld and/or does the studio like, pay some percentage of the rulings? Why would anyone agree to these?
Once again I’ll state that April Fool’s spat is how I ended up here. So, not all that bad. 🙂
That’s right! It was worth it!