The logo of the “yaks”
The Lethbridge College Kodiaks got a bit of a surprise earlier this month.
As an April Fools’ Day prank, the Kodiaks got a brief name change… The Yaks.
The moniker was spread across all of the social medias that the Kodiaks are associated with, along with a press release.
“We weren’t sure how people were going to take it. Ya know we tried to make it as believable as we could,” said Jamin Heller who was in on the prank.
The press release from the first read, “The move is a result of over two years of sports marketing research, which suggested the “Yaks” moniker has broader appeal to millennials. The Kodiaks have long been referred to by their “-iaks” nickname across the province, with players often adopting “Go Yaks” as their go-to team cheer.”
The press release even went so far as to get credible sources, such as Todd Caughlin, the athletic manager for the Kodiaks.
“The exclusivity factor, knowing we are the only team with this nickname in the entire country, really just tipped the iceberg for us when making the final decision… With Lethbridge College celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, we felt it was the perfect time to separate from our Golden Bears roots and go in a new direction,” states Caughlin in the release.
The credibility of the release actually had some players concerned about the name change.
“They got me… thank god it’s not (real),” said Jennifer Kubos of the cross country and indoor track team.
The whole prank didn’t take long to put together either.
“(We) wrote a release in about two hours, and overall it was probably about four hours, but definitely worth it when you see the results,” says Heller.
Lethbridge College has a long running history of different gags on April first.
“Last year we made up the Canadian Centre for Excellence and Innovation in Far Northern Hemisphere Coffee Bean Cultivation and we had two alumni play along,” said Lisa Kozleski the senior writer and editor for the communications team.
The college has also previously pulled the gags of ” Lethbridge College to establish Inland Marine Research Centre” and more.
The Kodiak “yak” prank stayed up until the end of the first, where then the tradition Kodiaks logo was then put back in its place.