see the zipper." and i think that's the most concise way to view what happened. from the startling -- >> if i did that i would be arrested or shot and then arrested. >> -- to the silly. >> you're like, wow, that kid's got to get up. >> -- to the sublime. >> they think think they can get away with it. their viral videos, short moments, caught on camera that we can't stop watching. and like a virus, pass it along. >> first thing you do is send it to ten of your friends. >> people flood the internet with videos hoping they will go viral. >> everybody is making videos now. i can put my kid on there and

get a million views and be on david letterman? >> you're competing with a guy that put a cat down his pants. >> why do people love cats so much. >> the videos can be riveting but can you believe everything you see? >> if it'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 are everywhere. mean the your e-mail and chances are you've watched them and maybe, even forwarded on one or two along to someone else. the videos you're about to see were all popular. some are funny and some are poignant, all amazing clips but they may have left you

wondering, are they'll or are they fake? ♪ >> wait, did someone just spray paint graffiti on air force one? ♪ >> in this video, a couple of guys essentially, climb a fence, allude the secret service, run up there and put a graffiti tag on air force one while it's all being videotaped. >> you're like, wait a minute. are they doing something to air force one? what is going on here? this is crazy. >> did someone really break into

andrews air force base and spray paint or tag the president's plane? >> i think people really want to believe it's true. ♪ >> the video hit the internet in 2006. quickly it became a sensation. >> the first reaction is, always, is this real? and if this is real, how can this be real and what does this mean for the security of our country, maybe, if this video is real? >> so did it really happen? was the video real or fake? >> it just doesn't pass the sniper test. if i went to run up to the air force one in all black with a backpack, i don't think i would survive that run. if i went and did that i would be either arrested or shot or shot and then arrested.

>> i think what we were trying to accomplish was a pop culture moment. >> mark ecko is a designer and video game developer. this was part of a viral marketing campaign for a game called "getting up." >> it was to get people to talk about a game and to author something that was culturally relevant. >> in the "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 is so absurd, we thought, we got to do this. >> ecko teamed up with an advertising agency and creative shop to make it happen. >> the first thing was, we got to rent a 747. >> he found a plane -- >> oh, my goodness. >> -- and painted it to look

like air force one. >> we wanted to look as authentic as possible because that's what's going to get people to raise their eyebrows and say, 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 hangar sign nearby and the signs that say "andrews air force base" are the real signs. >> while in theory they were not doing anything illegal, the production was not without risk. >> you start to shoot and you pull out a 747 and it was like that holy [ muted ] moment, is this really happening? and all of the sudden helicopters start flying about. police showed up. there was no shortage of creative tension that night. if we had put this video out there and someone had panicked and stopped the presidential flight from happening, we might have been in trouble. lucky that didn't happen.

>> they manage to avoid a national security incident and created a video that got international attention. 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 new, a perfect window of opportunity existed that really doesn't exist today. where the suspension of disbelief existed around videos. you would 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 the stunt, if you will. >> you're competing with a guy that will put his cat down his pants or something. you have to be entertaining because the next video below you is going to be funny or cute or

outrageous, so you must make an impression. >> the mark ecko video was creative and is so well executed and it look and felt like somebody was breaking in somewhere. and it caused you to have self-doubt. the emotional reaction of -- is this real or fake? so you send it to ten of your 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 matt, who likes to dance. >> i love it. it's totally captivating. >> when that dude was just for fun was traveling around the world and at every location he would dance a jig and he edited these together and created a video of him dancing jigs around the world. it was a really well done and creative, 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 and the video was constructed with special effects and green screen technology.

>> there are certain situations where i see a video and i think, if that's fake, i get angry at people. we're like -- 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 of these places? >> i would be ticked. i would 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 the green screen. when we come back. that's what pushes us to deliver smarter simpler faster sleeker earlier fresher harder farther quicker and yeah even on sundays. what's next? we'll show you.

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designer named matt harding posted this video of himself online. >> some friends found it and they 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 these spikes where it would get bigger and bigger and more people would come in and different countries. sweden, south korea is watching the video. late in 2005 it had this really big spike and suddenly i was getting calls 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. but 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 and in 2003 my job and i took the money i saved up to go around the world and spent about six months traveling to 17 different countries. and a few months into the trip, i was traveling with a friend and we were in vietnam taking pictures. >> i said, you should do the stupid dance you do on camera. >> we shot it and i liked the way it looked and decided to keep on doing it everywhere i went on this trip around the world and i put the clips together thinking it would be a nice manage of me around the world and it would be amusing to some f of my friends. and people started passing it around. >> where can he go will somebody will not ask him to do that dance? >> the dancing in that video came about there weren't a lot of people filming themselves and there were not a lot of people editing them together and three, stringing them together in one specific video and, four, actively wanting share it.

so matt came about at a time when people didn't know you could do this and people were not trying to achieve fame. they were doing it for fun and to share with friends and family. today would that video be successful? hard to know. >> by the end of this one you're like, it's so like inspirational about 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 market in 2006 and they called me up and said, they asked if i would 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 mean, i think that's the goal for any viral video is get somebody to pay you to make the next one.

>> when people started achieving real fame through the internet marketers started to pay attention and increasingly we're seeing more and more brands reaching out to people who have achieved a dedicated online following and create their brands with them or have them create content on their behalf. they realized 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 and this time he called in reinforcements. >> my favorite clip in my second video was in rwanda where i danced with a bunch of kids in the village. i thought this is so much more interesting. i should have done that all along. so i went back to stride and i told them this idea for another video where i would take all the e-mails from the 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 come dance with me. and we got thousands of people to come out and dance with me for this third video.

>> there's movie star fame, rock star fame and even, reality show fame. but this was different. >> we came up with this term "eleverty." which really represents someone who became a fame through the internet. >> with this status there's 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 a video. from time to time i get invited to go speak at colleges, grade schools, corporate events and things like that. and i've 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. i hope some day that i'll figure out some way 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 two filmmakers appear to make trip after trip to the richmond dmv, willingly and in costume and each time, they come out with a new license. >> it's pretty interesting to see somebody spray painting hair on their head. it's kind of a good look. a little nongreasy racial -- 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 it was zero footage of them in the actual dmv. >> how do they let them redo their licenses that often? >> the video took off, creating millions of hits and attracting media attention. >> these filmmakers took artistic license when they got

their driver's licenses. >> in post 9/11 america, could anyone get away with this? find out if it really happened when "caught on camera:viral videos real or fake" returns. those who have served our nation have earned the very best service in return. ♪ usaa. we know what it means to serve. get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life.

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driver's license pictures are notoriously bad. but in 2006, filmmakers dave stewart and will carsola took bad to a whole new level. >> this video features a couple of jacks dressing up ridiculously and getting their photos taken for a driver's license in virginia. great concept. it's kind of subversive but really stupid and silly and a smart and dumb idea. pictures are pretty funny and spray painting hair on somebody's head is also pretty funny. the brows are great. >> they were like, were not 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. actually, i didn't believe this much at all. anyone can photoshop a driver's license to have that picture but at the same time it's funnier if it is true. >> i'm going to get 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, the dmv, getting a government-issued i.d. isn't going to be so easy. >> apparently, at least in this case, it is. the video and the licenses are all real. but 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're not just men, we are art, art, art, artists. can you please say that? this is where we find our inspiration inside of here. >> 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 can't help being me. it's just who i am. >> they showed up to our interview dressed in garbage bags and wearing plastic sunglasses. will wore a hightop sneaker on one hand while dave wrapped his in foil and painted eyeballs on his eyelids. >> the idea came in a dream. cosmos is aligned and now we're huge hollywood movie stars. >> we are geniuses and we deserve that kind of attention. >> i just really want to capture the struggle of people. >> 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 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 and i got away with crossing my eyes and looking ridiculous. from there it escalated. dave went a couple of times and we tried to top each other's driver's license. >> this one, this will be the one that definitely will not work. >> dave got away with painting the top of his head black and wearing fake buck teeth. that surprised us a lot. you know, it was hilarious but at the same time it was scary. the only thing i could think of to top it was to paint my face red. >> some weird reason people are going to be looking at me strange. >> we were definitely surprised, every time when we walked out, we were completely in shock and

before we went in, we always say, definitely not going to be able to get away with this one and every time we were more and more surprised. >> they were not buying it at all. and finally i was up at the booth talking to the guy for like 20 minutes and he kept stalling and going to the back and everyone was looking at me. >> 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 demanded the licenses back. will and dave claimed they 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. >> when these videos came out, the first reaction is, these guys are awesome. how did they come up with this idea? why do they think they can get away with this? >> what they did was they managed to get a number of different driver's licenses 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 security works in this country? >> will and dave say they meant no harm and maybe even did some good. >> it was a joke and it escalated to a matter of national security. did we expect that? no. it's a good thing it did. it's good that people know someone could get a license that easy. >> you can call them filmmakers or pranksters. >> we don't like to put boundaries on what we do. >> whatever you call them, will and dave made a video that for a moment anyway captured people's attention. but has that changed them? you decide. >> everybody wants to be our friend. our inner circle is glowing. all that matters in life is you're either famous or not. and we are famous! now we go from two people getting replacement licenses to what appears to be a young man practicing to get his first one.

>> and in a series of videos a kid signs up for driving lessons and torments the instructor by being the worst driver. >> this driving student takes call after call on his cell phone, annoying and infuriating the driving instructs. >> hang up the [ bleep ] phone. >> that kid is hysterical. he is hysterical. >> what kind of 15-year-old signs up for driving lessons and actively takes out his phone and asks the driving instruct to hold the wheel. >> 10 and 2. 10 and 2. >> this is not a nightclub. >> i'm being extremely difficult. i keep picking up the phone and talking on the phone. he's clapping. i don't know. >> it's 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 this is happening. >> no. >> get out of the car. i'm driving. >> more "caught on camera: viral videos real or fake" when we come back.

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hi richard louis with the hour etop story. a frustrated police chief in detroit is urging those to come forward from a block party yesterday that left 19 dead and 11 injured. they believe it was a revenge shootout. the investigation is silenced bay large number of people who witnessed the shooting. police in philadelphia are searching for two men who opened fire on a block party there. 10 people injured, including 1-year-old girl. now back to "caught on camera." welcome back to "caught on camera." i'm contessa brewer. here's a young man who infuriates a series of driving

instructors and gets behind the wheel of his call 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 viral video hit the internet in 2008. >> watch for the pedestrian in front of you. >> just how frustrated can a driving instructor get? we're about to see. [ cell phone ringing ] >> hello. >> no, no talking on the telephone. >> what's up? >> hang up the phone. >> hey, just stop snapping. >> grandma! yeah, it's me. >> 10 and 2 with the hands. 10 and 2. >> he's clapping -- >> no, no, no. >> oh, my god. >> hang up the god [ bleep ] phone. >> it seemed a genuine reaction of the instructors that struck a cord with everybody. you're watching this going, i can't believe this kid had the [ bleep ] to do this. i can't believe he pulled it off and i can't believe these people didn't slap him silly. >> but the ever-cynical online viewing audience had its doubts. >> 10 and 2. 10 and 2.

>> this is not a nightclub. >> that is so stupid. >> i couldn't tell about this one if it was real or fake. i had a few things that made me skeptical. one, you can see a lot of different camera angles. especially when he first gets in the car i counted four different angles and that's a pretty elaborate setup for a high school kid. >> was the video for real? 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? yes and no, but 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 timbersome. >> go right.

keep your hands on the wheel. this is totally dangerous. >> people ask is it real or fake and i say, it's both. i mean, you kind of at one point do you draw the line between is it real or fake. >> sir, may i have your attention? >> pull over! >> i kept talking to like a friend of mine, like some beach bum dude named kenny, and describing everything in the world to him and talking about the house or kind of stupid stuff. i was talking with my grandma a couple of times and he yelled really loud. >> we're probably going to have to go back. >> no, i'm driving. >> just pull over here. >> i'm just being a little arrogant son of a [ bleep ] in the car. the hardest thing for me was actually rounding the guys up. >> keep your [bleep]ing hand on the driving wheel. >> driving? you mean like steering wheel? >> i would hit garbage cans and stuff and even then it took them a while to get angry. >> we all like to see other people getting tormented and laugh at other people's misfortunes. the emotional reactions or the driving instructors were extraordinarily genuine. they were angry and 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 fame has often been the main reason for posting these videos but there was another motive behind this one. advertising. >> can i have my phone back? >> no. >> it turns out the series of videos was a campaign for a wireless headset provider. most people don't know that. that's the best part. most people watch it and think it's an amazing video and share it with somebody. >> as you know from the first of july, you're not allowed to talk on the cell phone. >> i can't hold on to the phone in the car. ridiculous. >> parrot is the worlds largest manufacturer of hands-free car kits and we wanted to show how complicated and inconvenient and sometimes, even dangerous it 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. but what makes the video so believable is there's an element of reality to it.

>> pull over. get out of the car. i'm driving. >> hold on, hold on. >> get out of the car. >> we showed the problem by going out and secretly signing up a bunch of driving instructors. they showed up and they were unaware that our student driver was actually a plant. and as he was taking his driving course, he would continue to answer fake phone calls throughout and we had cameras hidden in the air freshener, another camera hidden in the glove box and so forth. so while he'd take his phone calls the driving instructors would get more and more infuriated. >> will you type in her number? >> no. phone over. >> i deleted her number. >> keep your [bleep]ing hands on the driving wheel. >> for parrot this was a home run because it allowed them to get a message out to a lot of people in an impactful way for a 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 the first wreak.

>> we have to pull over. >> no, i'm driving. >> you want to get pizza? >> no. i think we're just going to chill. >> it was just tremendously funny. and that's what drove the viral success of this campaign. people were sending around to others saying, you've got to see this. that's the best thing you can hope for. >> curious about the driving instructors. want to know who was real and who was fake? 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 whether to make something believable and emotional and not over the top. and that's a very hard chord to strike and whether you're a teenage kid, a mother or a marketer. it's a real struggle for people because everyone instantly tries to find the big bang. the thing that really sparks a chord. but oftentimes, that big bang thing is much more subtle than people realize. >> if you want to be a part of

something good that people see than having something that's crappy all over the place. so i think they just did it right and 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! we're done! stop it. our next video starts out somewhat ominously. we find ourselves in a university lecture hall. >> as a viewer you're like, why are we watching a video of a class? did someone fall down the stairs? that's the typical classroom video. ♪ you come to class and it seems we all sleep and lost our laundry ♪ >> when he gets up singing you realize this is something different. you haven't seen it before. >> i love videos like this. >> he goes through the entire musical number. he doesn't care that no one is into it at first he just keeps going and going and running around the class room and engaging with the audience that's not necessarily engaging

back and it's really a special and unique thing. ♪ but all we need is one cent ♪ >> was it a real class, complete with a professor and student body or was the whole thing staged? >> you want to believe it because it's funny and hilarious and you're like, that kid has some [ bleep ] to get up there and sing. >> was it fake? was it not fake? >> there was a lot of confusion with people who saw the video as to whether they thought it was real or fake. >> find out when "caught on camera: viral videos real or fake" comes back. audible safety beeping the nissan rogue with safety shield technologies. the only thing left to fear is you imagination. nissan. innovation that excites. you show up. you stay up. you listen. you laugh. you worry. you do whatever it takes to take care of your family. and when it's time to plan for your family's future

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♪ i can make the calculation ♪ >> a lot of people liked that video because we all want that to happen. it's disrupting the ordinary day and people love musicals and hate math and science. everybody wants to see that happen in their lecture, but, again, i have terrible skepticism. i'm a bitter, bitter person who watches this and it's like, where is the laugh mic? where is the sound coming from? why is the sound quality so good in this lecture hall? ♪ you must think we only party and drink beer ♪ >> the professor i thought would step in at some point. >> could a couple of students really hold up a huge class right before the final without anyone stopping them? many believed the professor and the students were in on it. but others say the reactions seemed too genuine. ♪ ♪ reach teach ♪ >> was the video real or was it fake?

>> people have asked us the 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 that performed in it nobody knew. >> if it was a setup, it would be a big production, not just four kids totally disrupting a class. it was a great idea. all that stuff is just great ideas. ♪ but all we need is one chance to be treated as your equals as you dance ♪ >> the idea came out of an improv group barry was part of that posted the video in 2005. >> it was a bunch of students at columbia university and our main mission was, really, to perform sketch comedy in public for, i guess, we would call, a captive audience. ♪ they risk their professions for the chance to be

inspirations to kids like me ♪ ♪ hey, teach ♪ >> the idea was about creating a performance and putting it up in front of who were expecting the performance where they were. it's very funny to have somebody stand up in the middle of a very normal situation and start singing. ♪ people tend to dance ♪ >> i love, love, love that idea. i always felt that it would be fun to do. but that i could never keep a straight face. ♪ ♪ reach, teach ♪ >> it's very original and it's a little subversive. you've got that element of like, oh, i've never seen that before. so i love that. 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 of pranksters picked the largest lecture hall

they could find which turned out to be a chemistry class. >> the night before we sort of set up how we would go about it. so the day of the prank, we walked into the classroom like we were just students in that class. and i was mic'ed. there was a boom box all set up. one cameraman was stationed outside. the class began and my queue was to stand up and scream ♪ hey teach, i've got a question ♪ >> i don't think 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 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. it was as if, you know, gilbert and sullivan met vh1 and appeared in my class. >> while the members of the group have since graduated and moved on, their work lives forever on the web. and there's a little argument that in this columbia 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 and second of all, well-executed and three, strike this emotional chord and this emotional chord is the most critical because, again, you're encouraging someone to actively share something and tell their friends and family -- you have to watch this video. ♪ hey teach, i've got a question ♪ >> you have these videos where people plan for months. they go to a classroom and they jump up and sing and dance. that's never been seen before. it's unique and well planned and amazingly executed. depending on your point of view, our next video features

the secret fantasy or secret fear of office workers worldwide. >> we all have someone in our office who we think could be that guy? this is a video of "that guy" going mad in the office. ♪ >> tina from accounting is down. this one definitely had me. >> immediately i thought it was fake, i knew it was 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, it would have been like, stop, everyone wants to believe this is true. because everybody hates their boss and everybody hates that printer. but it hates tina from accounting. damn halogen lamps. >> yeah. i was like, wow, this guy is really pissed. i guess the 401(k) did not look the same this morning as it did yesterday. >> find out whether it's real or fake when "caught on camera" returns.

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sz 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 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,

a director who was looking for a new way to promote his movie "wanted." >> we know that our target audience is teenagers. 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 distributing.

>> as for wondering if it's real or fake, that's exactly what bekmambatov wanted. >> 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, brought it back to africa and let it go into the wild.

>> they pull you in 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 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 right? they're like let's see if he doesn't maul us. that is the question they asked themselves. that's beyond viral video. that's just a 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 as overnight, 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 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 and i 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 that it's a fake or think it's a fake. i don't think. >> 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?

is that a person in a lion suit? >> the story was so captivating, did it matter if it wasn't real? >> it's entirely possible that 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 think i might 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. >> 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 these two lions, the lioness and the cub that we subsequently called christian and he was totally, totally irresistible. 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 we half thought it would be an adventure. >> anyone could see that he really loved us, we really loved him. we were all part of his pride. >> eventually the lion became too big so he was turned over to conservationist george adamson who would release him to the wild. about a year later john and ace went back to africa to look for christian and found that the magic was still there. >> he comes closer and closer and closer, and then you can just see that click of recognition. so we called him and it'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 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

caughtoncamera.msnbc.com. i'm contessa brewer. that's it for this edition of "caught on camera." when it comes to viral videos, seeing isn't always believing. >> fantasy football. >> man, did he really do that? >> no way. >> treacherous trick shots. >> bigger and bigger and bigger. >> parking pandemonium. >> i'm the crazy guy who cuts off parking meters. >> it feels real. >> breathtaking biking.