Lee Cataluna: April Fools’ prank just as big second time

Early Monday morning, people were already screaming on social media.

The post generating all the furor featured the image of Maui’s Iao Needle with the top lopped off to make room for an elevated freeway from Wailuku to Lahaina. The freeway included a billboard for a new shopping mecca being built near where the funky Front Street buildings were being turned into a floating resort and water park.

It was all a well-crafted April Fools’ joke, but, like the best of these pranks, it had a ring of truth to it. Thousands of people, both Maui residents and visitors, believed and got angry before they realized it was all in fun. Some knew it was a joke all along, but it still made them upset, like the woman who commented:

“I got so angry and the entire time my mind was saying, ‘Nah, this is a joke’ but I still believed it.”

The piece was crafted by Hawaii Web Group’s Chris Norberg, Kelsey Kay Love and graphic designer Jesse Lee.

“We actually originally wrote this for an April Fools’ Day prank in 2015, and it blew up on social media the first time it was published as well,” Love said. “We had to put an April Fools’ Day disclaimer up pretty early, as I remember, because so many people were livid about it by about 9 a.m.”

Love wrote the piece that described ludicrous Maui developments with a matter-of-fact voice and structure of a straight news story.

“Demolition begins next week on Lahaina Town’s newest project, the Aloha Waterworld Resort and Waterpark, a five-star resort resembling the 1995 post-apocalyptic action film. According to investors, the hotel will include a Waterworld-themed luau, set on a floating stage on the surface of the 500,000-gallon wave pool. Located directly off of West Maui’s famous Front Street, the resort is expected to be one of the highest-priced destination resorts in the country.”

Love included a quote from the fictional architect of the Iao needle freeway project, saying, “No matter what people may think, this will be the most beautiful highway in all of America, if not the world. Why look at history when you can drive straight across it!”

“Basically, our company loves to fuse comedy with opportunity, and every year we try to come up with posts that are not only outrageous, silly and fun for our readers, but also creative and informative, too, with maybe just a touch of truth in there,” Love said. You can check out the post here: mauiinformationguide.com/blog/maui-county-2015-growth-plan.

Why did such implausible projects seem plausible to so many? Maybe because Maui has heard every crazy development idea out there, and some of the most outrageous plans get treated with great seriousness by community leaders. Developers have been talking about rerouting traffic through the West Maui Mountains for decades. It feels like it’s only a matter of time.

But here’s the thing: That scary depiction of Maui’s fictional future in the April Fools’ post bore startling resemblance to actual developments that have already been built on Oahu. No joke.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.