This Australian Company Has Been Faking Viral Videos for Years

They’ve mastered the art of the hoax.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccENfRThXOk

As long as there’s been published media, there have been hoaxes. Intentional hoaxes created just to get media attention really exploded in the last few years, though, after Jimmy Kimmel tricked the world. 

Now an Australian outfit called The Woolshed Company has published a video detailing how for the past two years they’ve pulled off clever hoaxes that went viral eight times over.

From a man fighting a great white to a snowboarder being chased by a bear, Woodshed has made fake viral videos into a business.

According to Woolshed’s press release, their purpose was “to experiment with the conception, creation and distribution of a series of shortform, ‘snackable’ content pieces intended to reach and entertain a worldwide audience regardless of medium or platform and without aid of any paid media, promotion, publicity, established channels or distribution networks.”

The explainer video that accompanied their statement shows clips from a number of international broadcasting and media companies that fell for their videos, hook, line, and sinker.

And before you even ask: yes, they fooled us, too.

h/t Digg