Fan Fare

Does a pickle or the Canadian band Nickelback have more fans? It may sound like a joke but the answer might not amuse the musicians.

A group on Facebook called “Can this pickle get more fans than Nickleback?” hit its goal over the weekend, notching up 1.4 million fans. The post-grunge band Nickelback had 1.38 million fans on Facebook but this number has since topped 1.4 million.

The group was started earlier this month by a Facebook user called Coral Anne as a joke, with the band’s name deliberately spelt wrongly on the page to get around copyright infringement. She  wrote that the page was inspired by another Facebook page called “Can this onion ring get more fans than Justin Bieber?” which she had found amusing.     Canadian singer Bieber, 15, who was discovered on YouTube, is enjoying enormous success with singles from his debut album “My  World.”

“This is all strictly intended for humor and nothing more or  less,” she wrote. “I am not using this page to endorse any hate towards the band Nickelback .. I do not wish Nickelback or any other bands any ill will and hope they would see the same humor in making this page as I have,” Coral Anne said.

Nickelback could not be immediately reached for comment but some media outlets were reporting that singer Chad Kroeger — or at least someone posting Facebook messages using that name – was not amused.