When people think of Roanoke, they think of the Star on top of the mountain. It’s why we have the name “The Star City.” People have proposed at the star, gotten married at the star, had a first date at the star, reunited with family at the star, or just visited to enjoy the amazing view of Roanoke from Mill Mountain.
Our Star is by far the most popular thing about Roanoke. Photos of the Star posted on the city’s Facebook page typically generate hundreds if not thousands of “likes.” Each year, hundreds of thousands of people visit our website to view the StarCam.
Given the fact the Star is so popular, some would say it was a risky to do what the Office of Communications did on April 1, 2014.
At 8:22 in the morning, the following message was posted on the “City of Roanoke, Virginia – Communications” Facebook page:
Comments began to flood into the city’s Facebook page almost immediately; many believing the Star was actually going on a world tour. By the end of the day, the post above had reached more than 50,000 users. But the Office of Communications was not finished.
At 10:49 a.m., the Office of Communications posted the following message:
“When the Roanoke Star is taken down next month, will our new name be the Starless City?”
The following photo was associated with the post. As you can see, the Star is missing from the mountain.
Comments continued to flow in with people in disbelief, some believing the news, some not. The post above reached more than 30,000 users.
At 1:32 p.m., the Office of Communications went to even greater lengths to make the news more believable with the help of Photoshop. The next post on the city’s Facebook page read:
“Roanoke Star announcement gets national attention!”
The following photo was attached to the post:
The post immediately drew a response from people who initially believed the original post was a prank. Many now believed that the Roanoke Star was headed for a world tour. Others began looking on the mountain to see if a crane was actually up there. The above post reached more than 36,000 users.
At 2:58 p.m., more “national” attention with this post:
“National spotlight continues as Roanoke Star begins world tour!”
The post drew more comments from people in disbelief. The post reached more than 17,000 users.
At 5:03 p.m., the Office of Communications finally gave in with the following post:
“Breaking News!”
The post reached more than 10,000 with many people giving Roanoke props for the prank.
The story also generated media interested. The city’s Public Information Specialist, Timothy Martin spoke on camera to WSLS, the NBC affiliate in town as well as WSET, the ABC affiliate. Both stations covered the story on the evening news.
The City’s Facebook page received more than 150 new overall “likes” on April 1, 2014.