tv Caught on Camera MSNBC August 17, 2014 6:00pm-7:01pm PDT
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from the startling -- >> if i did that i would be arrested or shot or shot and then arrested. >> to the silly -- >> wow that's up there. >> to the sublime. >> why do they think they can get away with this? >> they're viral videos. short moments caught on camera that we can't stop watching. lake like a virus. >> pass it on to your friends. >> people are flooding the internet hoping it will go viral. >> everybody is making videos now. oh, my god. i can put my kid on there and get a million views and then be on "david letterman." >> a guy will put a cat down his
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pants. >> why do people love cats so much? >> the videos can be riveting. can you believe everything you see? >> if that's fake, i get angry. >> you can fake that completely. >> have you been fooled? what's real and what's not? >> this one had me fooled 110%. >> "caught on camera viral videos: real or fake." welcome to "caught on camera," i'm contessa brewer. they've been embedded in blogs, your e-mail, chances are you'd watch them and forward one or two to someone else. videos you're about to see are popular. some are funny, some are poignant, all amazing clips. they may have left you wondering, are they real or fake?
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♪ >> wait did someone just spray paint graffiti on air force one? >> in this video, a couple of guys essentially climb a fence, elude the secret service, run up to air force one and put a fwra tag on air force one -- graffiti tag on air force one while this is being videotaped. >> like wait a minute, are they going to do something to air force one? you're like, what is going on? this is crazy. >> did someone really break in to andrews air force base and spray paint or tag the president's plane? >> i think people really want to
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believe it's true. >> the video hit the internet in 2006 and quickly became the sensation. >> the first reaction is always is this real. how could this be real and what does it mean for the security of our country maybe if this video is real? >> so did it really happen? was the video really or fake? >> it doesn't pass the sniper test, really is what it would be. if i were to run up to air force one in all black with a backpack, i don't think i would do that -- if i went and did that, i would be arrested or shot or shot, then arrested. >> i think what we were trying to accomplish was a pop culture moment. >> mark echo is a designer and video game developer. the air force one caper was part of a viral marketing campaign for a game called "getting up."
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>> it was getting people to talk about the game and to author something that was culturally relevant. >> in the game the main character uses graffiti to protest a corrupt and totalitarian authority. mark and his creative team brainstormed for a stunt that would bring attention to the game. >> the symbol of air force one was so loaded, and the absurdity of me being able to hop a fence with a spray can was so absurd. we said, we've got to do this. we've got to figure this one out. >> echo teamed one advertising agency and creative shop droga five to make it happen. >> the first thing, we've got to rent a 747. >> they found a plane -- >> oh my goodness. >> and painted it to look like air force one. >> we wanted it to look as authentic as possible because that's what's going to get team
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raise their eyebrows and go really, is this real? the layout of the fence and where the plane would be in relation to that fence was very very authentic. the hanger side nearby was very very authentic. even the signs that say "andrews air force base" are real signs. >> while this theory they weren't doing anything illegal, the production was not without risk. >> start to shoot, you pull out 747. and it was just like that holy -- moment. is this really happening? all of a sudden, helicopters start flying about. police showed up. there's no shortage of creative tension that night. >> if we had somehow put this video out there and someone had panicked and stopped the presidential flight from happening, we might have been in trouble. luckily that didn't happen. >> they manage to avoid a national security incident and created a video that got international attention.
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the air force one stunt hit the internet in 2006 during the early wave of viral videos. just a few years later, skepticism and competition have risen exponentially. >> the medium of viral video is still very new. the perfect window of opportunity existed. it really doesn't exist today where the suspension of disbelief existed around videos. you automatically suppose that everything you saw on the internet was real. and that window allowed for this opportunity to do this kind of -- to use viral video as the perfect medium to put together this stunt, if you will. >> you kpaet with a guy who put a cat down his pants. you've got to be entertaining because the next guy below you is going to be funny or cute or outrageous. >> that video was successful because it's creative, it was so well executed. it looked and felt like somebody was breaking in somewhere. and it caused you to have that
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self-doubt, that emotional reaction. is this real or fake? and so the first thing you do is you send it to ten friends. real fake? i don't know. >> from a highly planned and produced video to one with a concept that couldn't have been more simple. a man named nat who likes to dance. >> i love that. it's totally captivating. >> what nat was just for one was travel around the world, and at every location he would dance a jig. he edited these together and created a video of himself dancing jigs around the world. it was a really well done and creative and unique video at the time. >> but along with the notoriety came the detractors. some suggested the video was fake, that there was no way he could go to all these places. that the video was constructed with special effects and green screen technology. >> there's certain situations where i see a video and think if that's fake, i get angry at
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people. like, what are you -- i can't believe you did that. like i was emotionally invested in this thing because i thought that this guy was actually there. >> could one guy really dance in all these places? >> i'd be ticked i'd be ticked if it was a green screen fake. does anybody know what this guy does for a living? >> traveling god's green earth or standing in front of a green screen? when we come back. discover card. hey there, i just got my bill and i see that it includes my fico® credit score. yup, you get it free each month to help you avoid surprises with your credit. good. i hate surprises. surprise! at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card and see your fico® credit score.
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[ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ alex ] transamerica helped provide a lifetime of retirement income. so i can focus on what matters most. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. in 2005 a video game designer named matt harding posted this video of himself on line. >> some friends found and put it on their blogs, and it ended up getting passed around. >> before he knew it, the video had more than a million hits. >> it sort of kept having spikes where it would get bigger and
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bigger. and helpmore people would come in different countries, suddenly sweden's watching, north korea's watching. then it had a big spike. i was being called by tv shows and newspapers. >> and it certainly caught my attention. will you dance with me? >> sure. >> but for all the attention the video got, people said it couldn't be real that the exotic locations were really a combination of editing magic or green screen technology. so was the video real or fake? >> the video is not fake. it's not a hoax. it's not manufactured. there's no special effects involved. i really did go to all those places and set up a camera and dance. i started out working as a video game designer. so in 2003 i quit my job. i took the money i'd saved up to go on a trip around the world. i spent six months traveling to
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about 17 different countries. and a few months into that trip i was traveling with a friend we were in vietnam taking pictures. >> i was just like, well you should do this stupid dance you do on camera. >> we shot it, and i liked the way it looked and decided to keep on doing that everywhere i went on this trip around the world. i put the clips together thinking it would be a nice memento for me to have of my trip around the world, and it might be amusing to some of my friends. i didn't knowledgethink it would be interesting to someone who wasn't me or someone i knew. people started passing it around. >> where can he go where somebody will not ask him to do that dance? >> when the dancing video came about, there weren't a lot of people filming themselves, number one. two, there weren't a lot of people editing them together. three, there weren't a lot of people who took a creative approach of stringing them together in one specific video, and then four actively wanting to share it. matt came about at a time when people didn't know that you could do this and people weren't actually trying to achieve fame. they were doing it for fun and
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to share with friends and family. today would that video be successful? hard to know. >> by the end of this one, your like, it's so like inspirational about like the world and coming together as a people and, like -- you know what i mean? >> the video got the attention of stride gum which made matt an offer he couldn't refuse. >> stride gum is a chewing gum company that was about to come to market in 2006 and they called me up and said -- they asked if i'd be interested in making another video with their help. and so in 2006, i spent six months traveling to 39 countries on all seven continents to make the second dancing video with them. >> he got stride gum to fund his next trip which is -- i think that is the goal for any viral video is to get somebody to pay you to make the next one. >> when people started achieving real fame through the internet marketers suddenly started paying attention. increasingly, we're seeing more
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and more brands reach out to people who have achieved a dedicated online following and tried to integrate brands with them or increasingly create content on their behalf. they realize this would be a wonderful way to get exposure without having to pay for exposure. >> the second video was so popular, matt did a third one. this time he called in reinformity. >> my favorite -- reinforcements. >> my favorite clip was in rwanda where i danced with kids in the village. i realized boy that's so much more interesting. i should have been doing that all along. i went back to stride, and i told them this idea for another video where i'd take all the emails from people all over the world who said why didn't you come dance in my country. and i would go there and invite them to dance with me. we got thousands of people to come out and dance with me for this third video. >> there is movie star fame, rock star fame even reality show fame. but this was different. >> we came up with this term e-lebrity which represents someone who gained fame through the internet.
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>> with corporate sponsorship and e-lebrity status, there was no going back to a day job. >> i make videos in which i dance badly for a living. i'm working on a book about making the videos. from time to time i get invited to go speak at colleges grade schools, corporate events and things like that. and i have been enjoying being at home as much as possible because the last five years, i've not spent a lot of time here in seattle. >> but the fame and fortune came from traveling the world. so can we expect to see matt dancing again? >> there's a few places that i still haven't managed to get to. number one on the list is -- and probably will always be -- outer space. i'd love to get up into space. >> reporter: someday that -- i hope someday that i'll figure out how to get up there. a trip to the department of motor vehicles could be one of the most universally dreaded things we all have to do. but in this next viral video
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two filmmaker appear to make trip after trip to the richmond dmv willingly and in costume, and each time they come out with a new license. >> already pretty interesting to see somebody spray painting hair on their head. kind of a good look. a little non-p.c. racial humor. definitely popular whether you love it or hate it. funny idea -- i like the concept a lot. i was instantly skeptical because you can fake that completely, and there was zero footage of them in the actual dmv. >> how are they letting them redo their license that's often? >> the video took off, generating millions of hits and attracting media attention. >> let's begin with a couple of independent filmmakers in video who took some artistic license when they went to get their driver's licenses. >> in post-9/11 america, could anyone really get away with this? find out if it really happened when "caught on camera viral videos: real or fake" returns. i'm m-a-r-y and i have copd. i'm j-e-f-f and i have copd. i'm l-i-s-a and
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are notoriously bad. in 2006, filmmakers dave stewart and will carsola took bad to a whole new level. >> this video features a couple of jack -- dressing up ridiculously and getting their photos taken for a driver's license in virginia. great concept. it's that kind of subversive but really stupid and silly kind of smart and dumb idea. pictures are pretty funny and spray painting hair on somebody's hair is also pretty funny. the unisbrou great. >> they were like weren't you just in here? >> i'm not going to be able to get away with this. >> like so many viral videos, this one left people wondering -- >> there was zero footage of them in the actual dmv. >> dirty face is dude -- >> i actually didn't believe this at all. anyone can photoshop a driver's license and have that picture.
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but at the same time, it's funnier if it is true. >> i'm going to get me another one. >> did these two filmmakers really pull it off? are the licenses and the video real? >> it's a hard real or fake one. nowadays dmv, getting a government- government-issued i.d. isn't so easy. >> apparently in this case it is. the video and the licenses are all real. when we spoke to will and dave, it was clear to them the video was more than just viral. >> we created a beautiful piece of art, art, art, art. we are not just men, we are art, art, art, artists. it was art. can you please say that? this is where we find our inspiration, inside of hare. >> their art seemed to have no off switch. >> i like to think of myself as a canvas. for the moment this is my true self. i -- i can't help being me.
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it's just who i am. >> they showed up to our interview dressed in garbage bags and wearing plastic sunglasses. will wore a hightop sneak or one hand, while dave wrapped his in tinfoil and painted eyeballs on his eyelids. >> well, the idea came in a dream. the cosmos aligned, and now we are huge hollywood movie stars. [ cheers ] >> we are geniuses and we deserve that kind of attention. >> i just wanted to really capture the struggle of people. i'm sorry, what was the question? i get a little lost in myself. this is rad. rad's our only friend. >> the more we talked to them the more we wondered was the interview they were giving us real or fake? we went to their website where they wrote about sitting for an interview with us. they said they decided to help us "spice it up a bit" and
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answer our questions as "art-fashion snobs." so what was the real story with the video? we went back to 2006 and one of the first television interviews will and dave did when the media picked up on their story. >> i decided just randomly to go to the dmv and try to get a funny picture. i got away with crossing my eyes and looking ridiculous. from there, it escalatesed. dave went a couple of times, and we kind of tried to top each other's driver's license. >> this one is going to be the one that definitely does not work. >> dave got away with painting the top of his head black and wearing the fake buck teeth. that surprised us a lot. you know it was hilarious, but at the same time it was kind of scary. the only thing that i could think of to try to top that was to paint my whole face red. for some weird reason, i think people are going to be looking at me kind of strange. we were surprised. every time we walked out, we were in shock. before we'd go in we'd say, definitely not going to get away with this one. every time they were more and
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more surprised. they were not buying at all. finally, i was at the booth talking to the guy for 20 minutes, and he kept stalling, going in the back. and everyone was looking at me man. >> it was especially a surprise to the richmond dmv which became aware of the stunt after it was featured in the local paper. the dmv was less than pleased and demanded the licenses back. will and dave claim they've lost them. the virginia dmv says it has updated its policy and will deny a license or i.d. card to anyone who appears in disguise. >> whether these videos came out, the first reaction was, wow, these guys are awesome. how did they come up with the idea? why did they think they could get away with this? what they did, they managed to get a number of driver's license pictures with completely different identities in a post-9/11 world. this is remarkable, and it caused a major outcry. >> maybe one of the reasons i was a little skeptical is like, really the dmv is that lax about letting that stuff go with the way the security goes in
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this country? >> let me see your mad face. >> will and dave said they meant no harm and maybe did some good. >> it was a joke and escalatesed to an issue of national security d. we expect that? no, but i think it's a good thing we did. that people know someone could get a license that easy. >> you can call them filmmakers pranksters -- >> heroes. >> artists. >> we don't like to put boundaries on what we do. >> whatever you want to call them, will and dave have made a video that for a moment anyway captured people's attention. but has it changed them? you decide. >> everybody just want to be our friend now. our inner circle we are just glowing. >> all that really matters in life is that you're either famous or you're not, and we are famous. >> now we go from two guys getting replacement licenses to what appears to be a young man practicing to get his first one. >> in the series of videos, a kid signs up for driving lessons, and essentially torments the instructors by being the worst possible driver. >> this driving student takes
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call after call on his cell phone, ignoring and infuriating his driving instructors. >> just hang up the [ bleep ] phone! >> that kid is hysterical. he is hysterical. >> you hold -- >> what kind of 15-year-old signs up for driving lessons and actively takes out his phone and asks the instructor to hold the wheel? >> 10 and 2 -- >> this is not a nightclub. >> extremely difficult. i keep picking up the phone and talking on the phone -- >> john, john, john -- >> he's clapping. i don't know. just me trying to cause as much trouble as possible basically. >> did he just decide to film his driving lessons, or is there more to the video than that? >> you want to believe that this is happening. at the end -- well, i don't know. >> get out of the car. i'm done. >> more ahead. [ male announcer ] if you suffer from a dry mouth then you'll know how uncomfortable it can be. [ crickets chirping ] but did you know that the lack of saliva can also lead to tooth decay and bad breath?
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i was just looking at your credit report site. do you guys have identity theft protection? [ male voice ] i'm sorry did you say identity distribution? no. protection. identity theft protection. you have selected identity distribution. your identity will now be shared with everyone. thank you. no, no, no -- [ click, dial tone ] [ female announcer ] not all credit report sites are equal. [ male voice ] we're good in here, howie. yeah, have a good night, brother. experian.com members get personalized help plus identity theft protection. join now at experian.com. with enrollment in experian credit tracker. i'm milissa rehberger. here's what's happening -- speaking at a rally for michael
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brown in ferguson, missouri, the reverend al sharpton called this a defining moment for america. brown was unarmed when he was killed by a police officer a week ago. the department of justice will conduct another autopsy on michael brown's body. they cite extraordinary circumstances surrounding this case. and monday before he leaves -- one day before he leaves south korea, pope francis opened the door to improved relations with china and south korea. back to "caught on camera." welcome back to "caught on camera," i'm contessa brewer. here's a young man who infuriates driving instructors. he gets behind the wheel of his car and takes call after call on his cell phone. but is it real or is it fake? let's watch and find out. driving is very easy just relax and drive, okay? >> this voerliral vote hitideo hit the internet in 2008. >> watch the pedestrian in front of you. >> shouldn't hit that guy,
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right? >> no. >> how frustrated with a driving instructor get? we're about to see. >> hello? >> no, don't talk on the telephone. sorry -- >> what's up? >> hang up. hang up the phone. >> just stop -- grandma? yeah, it's me. >> ten and two, ten and two the hands. ten and two. >> okay -- >> don't -- don't, don't, don't -- >> he's clapping. oh, my god, no -- >> just hang up the [ bleep ] phone! >> it seemed a genuine reaction of the instructors that struck a chord with everybody. you're watching going, i can't believe the kid had the -- to do this. he pulled it off. i can't believe they didn't slap him silly. >> the ever-cynical online viewing audience had its doubts. >> ten and two, ten and two, then and two -- >> this is not a nightclub. >> turn it off. >> i couldn't tell about this one, if it was real or fake. i had a few things that made me skeptical of it. one, you see a lot of different
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camera ache elsengles, four different angles. an elaborate setup for a high school kid. >> was the video for real? now this is a two-part question. first, is the kid playing a prank, or is this a genuine situation caught on camera? second if it is a prank, are the instructors in on it or are these real reactions? >> grandma? it's me -- >> well yes and no. mostly no. >> this one had me fooled 110%. >> while most of the driving teachers were actual instructors, two were actors. in both cases, the videos were unscripted depending on the improv skills of the student, an actor named johnny pembetterrpemberton -- >> keep your hands on the wheel -- >> this is totally dangerous. >> you don't need to capitol hill out. >> people ask is it real or fake, i say it's both. i mean at what point do you draw the line between what is real and fake? >> sir -- may i have your attention? >> you don't like me --
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>> hit, hit -- >> pull over. >> kept talking like to like a friend of mine. like some beach bum dude named kenny. describing everything in the world to him. talking about like the house or kind of stupid stuff. i was talking with my grandma a couple of times. his to yell really loud -- grandma grandma? hey! >> we're going to have to go back. pull over. >> being a really arrogant little [ bleep ] in the car. the hardest thing for me was actually riling the guys up. >> keep your [ bleep ] hands on the driving wheel. >> driving wheel? you mean steering wheel? his to hit garbage cans and stuff. even then, it took a while for them to get really angry about stuff. >> we all like to see other people being tormented, to laugh at misfortune. in this case the emotional reactions of the instructors were extraordinarily genuine. they were angry, they were downstairs scared. they were in shock and disbelief. >> i swear to god it's the house from "wayne's world." i'm going to turn around. >> no, straight. >> internet world has been the main reason for posting videos. there was another motive behind this one.
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advertising. >> can i have my phone back? >> no. >> it turns out the videos is for a wireless headset provider. most people don't know that. they think it's an amazing video, they share it with somebody. >> as of 4th of july, you're not allowed to talk on the cell phone. >> it's ridiculous. >> parrot is the largest manufacturer of hands-free car kits. we wanted to show how complicated and inconvenient and sometimes even danger us to becomes to be talking on the phone while you're trying to concentrate and do something else. >> parrot communications and ground zero advertising bet on viral video to drive their point home. by-law makes the video so believable -- but what makes the video so believable is there's an elements of reality to it. >> pull over. get out of the car, i'm driving -- >> long island onhold on, hold on, hold on. >> get out of the car! >> we secretly signed up driving instructors. they signed up. they were unaware that our
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student driver was a plant. and as he was taking his driving course, he would continue to answer big phone calls throughout. we had cameras hidden in fresh freshener, in the glove box, and so forth. while he would take phone call the instructors would get more and more infuriated. >> would you type her number? >> no -- >> i deleted her number. >> keep your hands on the driving wheel! >> apparently it was a home run because it allowed the message to get out to people in an impactful way for not a ton of money. >> our sales were up three times in california over where we were before we started. >> the online hits kept coming and buzz on the video grew. >> i think it was a million clicks in the first week. >> we're probably going to have to go back. >> no, i'm driving. >> pull over here. >> pizza -- >> no. >> it's early -- >> no we're going to chill. >> it was just tremendously funny. that's what drove the viral success of this campaign. people were sending it around to
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others saying "you've got to see this." that's the best thing you could hope for. >> curious about the driving instructors? want to know who was real and who was fake? okay, here you go. these two are the actors. but did it really matter? the video was flat-out funny and became an instant classic. >> part of the balance is figuring out what makes something believable and emotional and not over the top. and that's a very hard chord to strike. whether you're a teenage kid, a mother, or a marketer it's a struggle for people. everyone instantly tries to find the big bang, the thanging that really strikes a chord. oftentimes it's more subtle than people realize. >> rather have something good that not many people see that is crappy and seen all over the place. i think they did it right. it worked out well with this video that it was really funny, and people liked it. >> you got to hang up the phone! we're done!
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we're done! [ bleep ]. our next video start out somewhat ominously. we find ourselves in a university lecture hall. >> as a viewer you start the video like why are we watching a video of a class. does someone fall down the stairs essentially? that's the typical classroom viral video. >> then -- ♪ from the class every day it seems we all fall asleep ♪ ♪ we've lost all our dreams ♪ >> when he starts singing, you realize this is something different. you haven't seen it before. >> yeah, i love videos like this. he goes through the entire musical number. he doesn't care that no one's into it. he keeps going and going, running around engaging with the audience that's not necessarily engaging with him back. it's a special and unique thing. ♪ ♪ all we need is just one chance ♪ >> but was it a real class complete with surprised professor and student body, or was the whole thing staged? >> you want to believe it because it's funny, hilarious. you're like, wow, that kid's got some -- to get up and sing. >> was it fake was it not fake?
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there was a lot of confusion with people who saw the video as to whether they thought it was real or fake. >> find out whether "caught on camera viral videos: real or fake" continues. protection? sure, we help with fraud protection. if there are unauthorized purchases on your discover card, you're never held responsible. you are saying "frog protection"? fraud. fro-g. frau-d. i think we're on the same page. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. fraud protection. get it at discover.com [ male announcer ] meet jill. she thought she'd feel better after seeing her doctor. and she might have if not for kari, the identity thief who stole jill's social security number to open credit cards destroying jill's credit and her dream of retirement. every year, millions of americans just like you learn that a little personal information in the wrong hands could wreak havoc on your life. this is identity theft. and no one helps stop it better than lifelock. lifelock offers the most comprehensive identity theft protection available. if jill had lifelock's protection, she may have been notified before it was too late. lifelock's credit notification service
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in a columbia university election taur hall professor james valentiny begins his chemistry lecture. the last class before the final when -- >> hey, teach? i've got a question -- >> mike berry break out into song. ♪ from the class every day it seems we all fall asleep ♪ ♪ we've lost all our dreams ♪ >> all cat on kraurmught on camera. ♪ when did we become this way so disillusioned ♪ ♪ i can't make the calculation ♪
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>> a lot of people liked that video because we all tlapt to happen. it's -- all want that to happen. it's disrupting the ordinary day. people love musicals and hate math and science. everybody wants to see that happen in their lifetime. again, i have a terrible skepticism. i'm a bitter, bitter person who watches this and am like where is his laugh, mike? why are there so many cameras? why is the sound quality so good in this lecture hall? ♪ you must think we only pause ♪ >> the professor i thought maybe would step in at some point. >> could a couple of students hold up a class before the final without anyone stopping them? many believe the professor and the students were in on it but others say the reactions seemed too genuine. ♪ [ applause ] >> so is the video real, or was it fake? [ applause ] >> people have asked us the
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question -- who knew what? and the answer is is that except for the people involved in the actual prank, the camera people, the director, the choreographer and the people who performed it nobody knew what was going on. >> if it was a setup, it would be a whole big production, not just four kids totally disrupting a class. it was a great idea. all that stuff, just great ideas. ♪ all we need is just one chance to be treated as your equals and to dance ♪ >> the idea came out of an improv group berry of part of called "pugs group" in 2005. >> it was a group of student in columbia university. our main mission was really to perform sketch comedy in public for -- i guess we would call a captive audience. ♪ to be inspirations to kids like me ♪
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>> the idea was about creating a performance and putting it up in front of people who weren't expecting a performance where they were. it's very funny to have somebody stand up in the middle of a normal situation and start singing. >> i love, love loved that idea. i always thought it would be funny, but i could never keep a straight face. ♪ ♪ reach teach ♪ >> it's very original. it's a little subversive you know. you've got that element of like oh, i've never seen that before. so i loved it. i like musicals. >> as simple as it may look, breaking out into song in class took a fair amount of planning. mike and his band picked the largest lecture hall they could find which turned out to be a
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chemistry class. >> the night before we set up how we would go about it. the day of the prank, we walked in like we were just students in that class. and i was miked. there was a bottom boxom box was set up. my cue was to stand up and scream -- hey, teach, i've got a question. i don't think that i can describe to you accurately just how scared i was. i was afraid somebody was going to stop me. i was interrupting a class. i thought that the teacher would run up and shut me up or somebody would get in my way, or something would happen that would stop the prank right in the middle and that would be the end of it. so i was scared to death. >> what about the teach? what did he think? >> i had no idea this was going to happen. i was stunned. it was so well done. so well produced. choreographed, the singing, everything was so professional.
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it was as if gilbert and sullivan met vh1 and appeared in my class. >> while the members of pranksgroup have graduated and moved on, their work lives forever on the web. and there's a little argument that in this colombia university lecture hall they captured a little piece of viral video magic. >> for a video to be successful, it needs to be first of all, creative. second of all well executed. and three, it really needs to strike this emotional chord. and that emotional chord is probably the most critical because, again, you're encouraging someone to actively share something, to tell their friends, to tell their family. you have to watch this video. >> hey, teach, i've got a question -- >> you have videos where people plan for months. they go to a classroom and jump up and sing and dance. that's just never been seen before. it's unique and well poland, and it's a-- planned and it's amazingly executed. >> depending on your point of view, our next video features the secret fantasy or fear of
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office workers worldwide. >> we all have someone in the office who we think could be that guy. this is video of that guy going mad in the office. ♪ >> tina from accounting is down. there one definitely had me. >> immediately i thought it was fake because a lot of these are fake. the thing that made me think it was real was this chick right here. she caught what looked like a monitor in the head. and i was like if this was not real naythey would have been like all right, stop. >> everyone wants to believe it is true because everyone hates their boss and everybody hates that printer, hates tina from accounting the damn halogen lamps. >> yeah. i was lake, wow, this guy's really pissed. this guy's 401k did not look the same this morning as it did yesterday. s with toothpaste. but they have to use special care in keeping the denture clean. dentures are very different to real teeth. they're
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a cubicle worker cracks and destroys his office, unbelievable, yet so believable. the video immediately became a hit, but did it really happen? was it real? or fake? the video is fake, and it even fooled the experts. >> fooled all of us. even those of us who have been in the business and watch almost every video around. we don't know. we watch them and we say yeah, could be real. might be real and you know what? turns out i don't care. >> i was totally suckered. in retrospect i can see things like the monitor. you need to unplug a monitor, that just doesn't come popping out. >> the office rage video was the brainchild of timur bekmambatov, who was looking for a new way to promote his movie "wanted." >> we know that our target audience is teenagers.
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we understood that the place where we can find them it's an internet and what they like and what we like, it's a viral video. >> the video plays off a scene in the movie where a young office worker smashes a colleague over the head with his keyboard. >> if we will extend it, we will make a viral video action spot. i didn't expect that it would be so popular. in my mind if it's like 500,000 people, it's great. >> in fact, the secret advertisement got nearly 4 million views in the first week it was posted, viral videos were a natural marketing choice. >> i really like them because it's very organic. it's the future because you don't have to pay for that. you didn't have to pay to distribute. >> as for people wondering whether it was real or fake, he says that's exactly what he wanted.
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>> they think oh, no, it's made up. no, it's real. >> the success of the viral video caught the director by surprise and he's keen to try it again. after all, "wanted" grossed more than $340 million worldwide. >> maybe there is a better way how to do this and next time we will use new techniques. but it's in any case it was entertaining. it was an event, entertaining and something to talk about. next from office rage to primal love. the video that melted the hearts of nearly everyone who watched it. >> unless you're a guy who stabs people you can't really help but get choked up. >> two people adopted a baby cub lion, raised it for a year essentially letting it run around a church. when it became an adult lion, they brought it back to africa, let it go in the wild. >> they pull you in the beginning, you see two hippies playing with a lion. who plays with a lion? that's awesome. >> every child's dream right there, that lion. right? >> this gets us into the
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phenomenon of how popular cats are online. >> why do people love cats so much? >> the critical point in this storyline comes when the two men go to africa to seek out the lion a year later. for a moment, the lion eyes the two humans. he rushes toward them. >> it is the sweetest story in the world. they're like let's see if he doesn't maul us. literally, that is the question they ask themselves. that goes beyond viral video. that's just a really powerful story. >> that's pretty fascinating to watch. it makes you nervous they're going to get their faces ripped off because we've probably all seen those videos. but it also kind of makes you want to do that. don't you want to hug that lion? >> this video almost overnight if you think about a 30-year time span became a national phenomenon once it went on the internet. you see that moment of the lion running towards these people and recognizing them as his parents. it's impossible not to have some strong emotional attachment and
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resignation with that. and so the first thing you would do is forward it along. >> the video was a phenomenon and a particular favorite of at least one morning show. >> and now to a new clip that is all the rage on the internet, it's amusing and may make you laugh, but it's also uplifting. >> we've all seen this maybe 100 times, but we still love it. >> i'm crying. >> you're crying which is disturbing. >> the video is touching, heartfelt and so, so sweet, which of course led some people to believe this was a big fat fake. >> there's always a question if something is for real. >> there are naysayers who claim it's a fake or think it's a fake. i don't think so. >> looks real to me. >> the story is a pretty unbelievable story, the fact that i hadn't heard of this before made me think oh, wait, how did they fake this?
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is that a perpendicular inson in a lion suit? >> the story was so captivating, did it matter if it wasn't real? it's entirely possible that the lion wasn't real. it's entirely possible the whole thing was staged but the way the story was created, the way it played out and the way the online video portion of it was distributed you could only think wow, this is really something different and special? >> if it's fake i would go shoot somebody. how could you be so cruel to make that up is what i would say. i'm hoping it's real. let's put it that way. >> well, no need to worry. the video is real. but the true adventure of christian the lion was first told in a documentary that became the source of the viral video footage. the unlikely love story started in london in 1969 when our two heroes, john rendall and ace burke went shopping at harrod's department store and bought a lion. >> so ace and i went up to the pet department there were two lions, lioness and the cub that we subsequently called christian and he was totally, totally irresistible.
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it was really a shock to see these beautiful creatures in such a tiny cage. >> we half wanted to rescue him from this situation and half thought it would be an adventure. >> anyone could see he really loved us, we really loved him. we were all part of his pride. >> eventually the lion became too big, so john and ace took christian to africa and turn him over to a conservation is who would release him back into the wild. year later john and ace went back to africa to look for christian and found that the magic was still there. >> comes closer and closer and closer, and then you can just see that click of recognition, so we called him, and that's when he took off. and he ran towards us with such excitement, the exuberance of it is what surprised everyone, the euphoria of that moment, in fact, we were all caught up in it. there was the most beautiful
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sort of connection between human and animals. >> the moment we saw him we knew there was no reason to be frightened at all. >> it predated the viral media by nearly 40 years, but this love story transcended time and species and continues to strike a chord with nearly everyone who sees it. >> it has been quite extraordinary, the youtube phenomena. i suppose it's a story that still resonates and there's no reason why it should date. >> it's also incredibly honest. you can't fake that. you can't fake the love that he has for us. >> well, they say you can't fool all of the people all the time, but chances are, at least one of the videos you just watched fooled you. don't worry. you're not alone. if you have a video you'd like to send to us you can do so at
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caughtoncamera.msnbc.com. i'm contessa brewer. that's it for this edition of "caught on camera." >> msnbc takes you behind the walls of america's most notorious prisons. into a world of chaos and danger. now, the scenes you've never seen. "lockup raw." it's a world where the threat of danger dictates every action and every decision. >> i have seen stabbings over drugs. i've seen stabbings over money owed for canteen. >> i was holding his head on the ground digging one of his eyeballs out. i didn't have the technical difficulties with that. >> i have seen child molesters ge
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