AUBURN — The city had a little fun with its social media accounts Thursday, announcing the “Auburn Lobster Festival” on July 31.

It might have duped a few people, but it was of course an April Fools’ Day joke, complete with a tagline of “Fresh from the Androscoggin.”

After playing up the joke for most of the day, city officials said it was an idea that came together pretty quickly Thursday morning, and was simply designed to boost engagement on Auburn’s social media pages.

If that was the goal, it worked. As of Thursday afternoon, the post had received nearly 12,000 “impressions” on Facebook, with more than 1,000 likes, comments and shares.

“As usual, our team’s collaboration turned into something special. The mayor, (city) manager and I wanted to give people a chuckle today,” Liz Allen, Auburn’s director of communications, said. “I think the fact that it looks so much like a legitimate event — with a logo and everything — made a few people think it was real, at least for a few seconds. I’m delighted by the response. It’s all in good fun.”

Comments ranged from questions over whether it was real to people immediately recognizing it was a joke. Some commented on the water quality of the river, while one person referred to the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland, which was canceled Wednesday.

Mayor Jason Levesque posted the image, complete with a lobster boat at the foot of the Great Falls, to Twitter, stating “Super excited to celebrate our river’s great lobster heritage.”

Levesque said it wasn’t meant as a reference to the Rockland event, and that he’d been pushing for some time to use lobsters in a “tongue-in-cheek” advertising campaign for Auburn.

“I’ve always said he have everything the coast has except lobsters and lighthouses,” he said. “I’m a big fan of using humor in marketing. It helps it be unique and memorable.”

“If you don’t laugh at yourself, you probably don’t laugh enough. Humor is critical,” he said, adding that a few people might actually show up July 31 looking for lobster.

Allen quickly designed the logo and image, and said any opportunity the city has to engage with the community “is so very welcome.”

On Wednesday, Allen posted a more fact-based announcement to social media that also received some attention.

Insurify, a website that compares insurance rates, announced a list of the best places to retire in each state. In Maine, Auburn was ranked No. 1 for 2021.

Allen posted the announcement to Facebook, stating, “OK, so this may or may not be legit, but we already think Auburn is the best, so when a national entity wants to make it ‘official,’ who are we to argue?”

The website said it rated U.S. cities based “on a composite score of factors comprising real estate affordability, life expectancy, accessibility to health care, low rates of property crime and violent crime, and driver and pedestrian safety.”

Asked Thursday, Allen said the nod was meaningful.

“We certainly think it is,” she said about Auburn being a great place to retire. “There are countless ways in which this community is special, and we want to celebrate Auburn any chance we get.”

She pointed to the city’s recent efforts in embracing the “age-friendly community” model, and its work to renovate an old city garage into what is now the Auburn Senior Community Center.

“Our City Council, staff and community volunteers (specifically our Age-Friendly Community Committee members) have dedicated themselves to making our community more welcoming, equitable, accessible and livable for people of all ages, especially older adults. That’s something to really be proud of and to build on,” she said.

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