YouTuber admits aspects of viral HomePod glitter bomb video were faked
A viral video featuring a booby-trapped HomePod box that pranked package thieves with a glitter bomb has been criticized for faking some of the reactions of the would-be "thieves," who were in fact acquaintances of friends of the video's creator.
YouTuber Mark Rober with the HomePod glitter bomb trap
The video, "Package Thief vs. Glitter Bomb Trap" by former NASA engineer Mark Rober, featured the creation of a device constructed inside a HomePod box that spread out glitter once the HomePod box was opened, with four smartphones used to film the event and subsequent reactions from all angles. Clips were shown of people claimed to be package thieves, opening the box and being covered with glitter, before throwing the contraption away.
At the time of publication, the video has garnered close to 42 million views since its original publication on December 17.
The popularity of the YouTube film prompted investigations by other Internet users, reports Buzzfeed, with online sleuths noticing a number of issues with the video relating to the thieves, who reportedly stole the trap package from doorsteps. One thief's vehicle was found to have a number of similar features to one parked near to the house of a friend of Rober, used to film some of the illicit acquisitions, suggesting it was acquired by someone who lived nearby.
Another person used Google Street View and Zillow to analyze the third thief's video from inside her home, and determined the side yard and outdoor area bore a striking resemblance to the home next door to the friend's house. Posted to Imgur, the thread of evidence led to others questioning Rober on some of his later edits to the published video, including deletion of small sections and blurring out details.
According to Rober, he offered to provide the box to people who were willing to place it on their doorstep, with the offer of financial compensation for successful recoveries of the package, and one "friend of a friend" volunteered to help. Rober has since confirmed that two of the five reactions used in the video were suspicious, and were subsequently removed, but insists the reactions for times when the box was stolen from his doorstep were genuine.
"I'm especially gutted because so much thought, time, money, and effort went into building the device and I hope this doesn't just taint the entire effort as 'fake,'" writes Rober in text placed underneath the video. "It genuinely works (like all the other things I've built on my channel) and we've made all the code and build info public."
Rober ends the statement by apologizing for "putting something up on my channel that was misleading," adding he will be taking "all necessary steps to make sure it won't happen again."
The YouTube channel primarily consists of science-related content, including a number of items where things have been built by the engineer. Some of the notable constructions include a playing card-firing gun, a moving dart board that can force players to hit the bullseye, and a giant lemon battery assembly.
YouTuber Mark Rober with the HomePod glitter bomb trap
The video, "Package Thief vs. Glitter Bomb Trap" by former NASA engineer Mark Rober, featured the creation of a device constructed inside a HomePod box that spread out glitter once the HomePod box was opened, with four smartphones used to film the event and subsequent reactions from all angles. Clips were shown of people claimed to be package thieves, opening the box and being covered with glitter, before throwing the contraption away.
At the time of publication, the video has garnered close to 42 million views since its original publication on December 17.
The popularity of the YouTube film prompted investigations by other Internet users, reports Buzzfeed, with online sleuths noticing a number of issues with the video relating to the thieves, who reportedly stole the trap package from doorsteps. One thief's vehicle was found to have a number of similar features to one parked near to the house of a friend of Rober, used to film some of the illicit acquisitions, suggesting it was acquired by someone who lived nearby.
Another person used Google Street View and Zillow to analyze the third thief's video from inside her home, and determined the side yard and outdoor area bore a striking resemblance to the home next door to the friend's house. Posted to Imgur, the thread of evidence led to others questioning Rober on some of his later edits to the published video, including deletion of small sections and blurring out details.
According to Rober, he offered to provide the box to people who were willing to place it on their doorstep, with the offer of financial compensation for successful recoveries of the package, and one "friend of a friend" volunteered to help. Rober has since confirmed that two of the five reactions used in the video were suspicious, and were subsequently removed, but insists the reactions for times when the box was stolen from his doorstep were genuine.
"I'm especially gutted because so much thought, time, money, and effort went into building the device and I hope this doesn't just taint the entire effort as 'fake,'" writes Rober in text placed underneath the video. "It genuinely works (like all the other things I've built on my channel) and we've made all the code and build info public."
Rober ends the statement by apologizing for "putting something up on my channel that was misleading," adding he will be taking "all necessary steps to make sure it won't happen again."
The YouTube channel primarily consists of science-related content, including a number of items where things have been built by the engineer. Some of the notable constructions include a playing card-firing gun, a moving dart board that can force players to hit the bullseye, and a giant lemon battery assembly.
Comments
Still it it was a great video.
Indknt care are about the concept. The problem is the satisfaction I felt seeing a-hole thrives getting glitter-bombed is now anger at being misled.
F*ck him. Channel blocked. Forever.
A simple apology accompanied with an, “I’ll take necessary steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again...”
He apologizes for putting something up that was misleading. He fabricated the entire thing. It took planning and, therefore, intent. For what purpose? To get views on social media? He lied about all of it. Didn’t apologize for lying (bcoz that would mean accepting responsibility for his childish/embarrassing behavior. And he further shirks admitting & taking responsibility by “taking necessary steps...”. It’s subtle, but again, no direct acceptance of responsibility. What he could have said is “I willfully posted this video to my site (for whatever reason), and I won’t do it again.
Some of you may think it’s a technicality, but something internally happens when one confronts their own behavior. He conveniently worded it so the blame is an extension (2nd person?) of him, therefore, no lesson learned.
While I agree there's a LOT of crap on YouTube, I have also found some really useful information. Especially the how-to videos. There are people who put significant effort into producing worthwhile content. Too bad most of the bandwidth goes to cat videos or videos like this one.
You can tell there was some truth it but was it exactly as it look. Face it the guy ask friend to put it on their door step in hopes someone walked by and decided to take it. Yeah it happens but how often. The only packages I lost was due to the fact the UPS guys was too lazy to drive down my street and deposited my package at my neighbors house on the main street.
Some of the acting was obvious. The only thing that had me believing it was the one where the cameras were covered since the thieves didn't fully open the box. This is something the director would have avoided.
If this gets your goose, dont step into the real world.