Watch out for some tweets purporting to be from Casio in response to a Shakira song

In his latest title released on January 11, Colombian star Shakira settles accounts with her ex-boyfriend, Gerard Pique, harshly attacking the former Spanish footballer and his new girlfriend. She launches in particular to her ex: “You’ve changed […] A Rolex for a Casio”, in reference to the two famous brands of watches, one of great luxury, the other of everyday consumption. In the aftermath, screenshots of two ironic tweets that seemed to come from an official Casio account circulated on social networks. But these messages come from a satirical account and Casio has denied them, even if many other tweets – authentic or not – have flourished on the internet in reaction to the song.

This January 14 Facebook post shows a photo of Shakira and Gerard Pique, overlaid with two screenshots of two tweets in English. The account name is CASIO™ and the username is @CasioOficial, clearly suggesting that the posts are from the brand.

“Shakira, we may not be a Rolex, but it is clear that our customers are loyal to us”, can we read on the first tweet, and “In defense of our Casio watches, the battery lasts longer than Pique and Shakira’s relationship.” adds the second tweet, as if the brand retorts these mockery to the unfriendly lyrics of the song.

Shakira ignites the web

These viral posts are circulating on social networks after the Colombian star made them boil over the publication of a song in which she openly settles accounts with her former partner, ex-Spanish footballer Gerard Pique, listened to 34 million times in less than 24 hours and which provokes a cascade of reactions.

Title “BZRP Music Session #53” and written in collaboration with the famous Argentinian producer Bizarrap, the song attacks the father of his two children but also his new companion, aged 23, the Spaniard Clara Chia.

She uses puns with “Piqué” and “Clara” to remove any ambiguity about the recipients of her sharp rhymes.

“Yo solo hago musica, lose that you sal+pique+” (“I just make music, sorry it splashes you”), she says first, before continuing: “You number of persona buena, +Clara+mente no es como suena” (“She has a good name, which is clearly not the case”).

In a passage of the song, the star sings, in acerbic allusions to the new companion of his ex-companion: “You changed a Ferrari for a Twingo”, “A Rolex for a Casio”, thus comparing itself to luxury brands while referring Clara Chia to everyday consumer products.

These words triggered a series of reactions.

On January 13, Pique announced, during a broadcast on Twitch.tv, that the football league he created, the King’s League, had signed an agreement with Casio to become its new sponsor.

On the same day, Renault also commented on the new song which evokes one of its models, the Twingo. His Twitter account shared a snippet of the song with this comment in English: “#Renault #Twingo will always support you Shakira anytime, anywhere” in reference to its famous title “Whenever, Wherever”.

Shakira, 45, and Pique, 35, began a romantic relationship in 2011, from which two sons, Milan and Sasha, were born in 2013 and 2015. After more than ten years of a largely Barcelona-based relationship , the couple announced their separation in June 2022.

The singer, who did not marry Pique and did not share property, still has an ongoing tax evasion case in Spain. The courts have not yet set a date for his trial.

Parody account

But the account behind these tweets is not an official Casio account.

Looking for the name of the Twitter account that can be seen on the screenshots, we come across an account created in February 2022, which promises to be clearly parodic.

Indeed, in the description of the account as well as on the part of the geographical location, the Twitter account mentions the word “Parody”“parody” in Spanish.

We can see that the username (the “handle”) of the parody account is @CasioTeam, but that on the screenshots of the two tweets translated into English, this “handle” has been replaced by another @CasioOficial, further confusing by pretending that this is an official brand account. However, it is also a parody account, created in January 2023.

The @CasioTeam account which publishes its tweets in Spanish was created in 2022 but the first tweet that appears there dates from January 12 of this year, the day after the publication of Shakira’s song.

Among his publications, which only mention the new song, we find the two viral tweets in Spanish, published on January 12 and 13.

Has Casio responded to Shakira?

However, a Spanish-language Twitter account from the Casio brand’s educational department actually commented on the song, making an ironic allusion to the lifespan of watches compared to that of Shakira and Pique’s relationship.

In his tweet published on January 12, 2023, we can read in Spanish: “Today we have quite a few notifications for a mention of CASIO in a song. CASIO (watches, keyboards, and calculators) are from and for life.”

The same Twitter-verified account posted a message on January 15, drawing attention to accounts claiming to speak on Casio’s behalf.

He even mentioned the Casio™ account that was behind the two tweets mocking Shakira, in addition to two other accounts that carry Casio’s name and post tweets about his relationship with Pique, as fake. accounts.

“Many accounts appear on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok claiming to be official CASIO media. We remind you of the importance of checking the sources of information. No statement or message posted on these accounts is official.” notes the twitter account of the educational department of the Casio brand in Spain.