Arcade Fire Win Butler
Arcade Fire's Win Butler in 2016. Patricia De Melo Moreira / AFP /Getty Images

Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire teased its fans yesterday (31 July) with the announcement that the outfit's new album, Everything Now, was available to order as a branded, limited-edition fidget spinner with a USB connector. Those same fans found that the £79 novelty device had sold out within minutes... but did it really?

Before we start delving into whether or not the "very limited" anxiety aid/album thing was ever real, let's look at what we do know. The listing, which is still live at time of writing, shows a picture of an awkwardly positioned USB connector slapped onto a standard fidget spinner.

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Judging by the blurb, the fidget spinner contains audio files (of unknown format) for Arcade Fire's fifth studio album, Everything Now, which was released on 28 July.

There are also mixed reports suggesting the spinners went up for pre-order, although we couldn't verify this... which is also a little suspicious.

Let's start with the obvious part here: £79 ($109 in the US) is a ridiculous amount for a fidget spinner, whether it contains audio files or not.

There's also the small matter of the terrible design. Placing a USB connector on the end of a spinner arm is strange to say the least, and likely prone to damage.

However, was the spinner ever real? Probably not.

The eccentric Montreal band has spent most of the past few months promoting its latest album by toying with the concept of "fake news", and this could be its latest prank. The made-up goofs include the band falling into debt over a film project, a spoof company called Everything Now Corp, a Russian spambot, and a fake Rock Band game based on the six-piece's work.

Time will tell if the spinner is actually real, with a suspiciously small number of Twitter users saying they did manage to snag one of the limited edition aids. Don't get your hopes up though.