Voters never gonna give him up? Can Van Meerbergen 'Rickroll' to re-election?
CTV
Fair tactics, dirty politics or just an election prank? Ward 10 incumbent Paul Van Meerbergen confirms that he no longer controls the website address listed on some of his election signs.
Fair tactics, dirty politics or just an election prank?
Ward 10 incumbent Paul Van Meerbergen confirms that he no longer controls the website address listed on some of his election signs.
Instead, voters who go to paulvanmeerbergen.ca are ‘Rickrolled,’ an internet prank that unexpectedly redirects the viewer to the music video for the 1987 song ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ by singer Rick Astley.
The video has over 1.2 billion views on YouTube generated by Rickrolling since 2007.
Van Meerbergen says the situation has temporarily left him without a critical election tool.
“I think there is an expectation that you come into an election with a website, that the information is there,” he told CTV News.
Van Meerbergen admits he did not renew the registration of his web address when it came due — only to discover someone has anonymously purchased the URL for the next four years.