Video: The obligatory “fake or real?” apocalyptic office meltdown clip
posted at 1:37 pm on June 4, 2008 by Allahpundit
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Harrowing journey into madness captured on office cameras and circulated for the lurid amusement of Internet voyeurs? Or cheeky viral advertising gimmick produced by some as yet unnamed cubicle manufacturing company, the revelation of which will induce a collective sigh of relief and admiration at the sheer audacious quirkiness of their ploy?
Exploitation or entertainment? We may never know. Webtastic! Click the image to watch.
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And someone just happened to have a camera there ready to film? come on.
lorien1973 on June 4, 2008 at 1:40 PM
Fake, fake, fake. A million times fake. This isn’t one of those “fake or real” clips, this is one of those “can you believe there are people that naive who actually believe this is real?” clips.
malan89 on June 4, 2008 at 1:44 PM
That’s one bro who needs some tasin’.
flipflop on June 4, 2008 at 1:44 PM
Good grief, if I had to work in an office that was decorated in a tacky combination of olive drab and vomit green, I’d suffer a meltdown too.
For that reason alone I say no self-respecting cubicle manufacturer would have made this as an ad.
James on June 4, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Preview of HotAirheads come Nov 7?
Limerick on June 4, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Ever heard of cell phone video cameras? Just the same, I think it’s fake/staged.
flipflop on June 4, 2008 at 1:45 PM
In fairness, the camera only picks up in the middle of the rampage and appears to be a web cam.
amerpundit on June 4, 2008 at 1:46 PM
Or cellphone camera.
Not to say I think it’s real, but I don’t think that that’s the factor that debunks it.
amerpundit on June 4, 2008 at 1:47 PM
What’s November 7th?
amerpundit on June 4, 2008 at 1:48 PM
Like the guy at the link said…that’s a lot of unplugged monitors. Fakeidy fake fake.
malan89 on June 4, 2008 at 1:48 PM
There were no cords attached to the monitor he threw. Bravo Sierra.
MadisonConservative on June 4, 2008 at 1:48 PM
This guy needs to be more optimistic.
Rhinoboy on June 4, 2008 at 1:49 PM
Sorry I should have put the 5th…
Limerick on June 4, 2008 at 1:49 PM
I think he means November 4th…the start of America’s Road to Socialism with President Elect Barack Obama.
malan89 on June 4, 2008 at 1:49 PM
If that isn’t fake, then the men in that country are pansies. None of them helped the lady that was ‘hit’ by the monitor at the beginning and then they just stood there behind the ladies towards the end of the first video. I would have taken that guy out way before they did. I work in a closed door office with no windows, so I think about this kind of thing all the time.
StlDad on June 4, 2008 at 1:49 PM
englishrussia.com has a security cam view of this.
Realist on June 4, 2008 at 1:49 PM
I have a coworker who speaks Russian and FWIW, most of the words in the video are curse words. Not sure if that’s how advertising is done in Russia, though.
Here’s the same event from a different perspective.
Hoodlumman on June 4, 2008 at 1:49 PM
I think the first vid is (purportedly) from a security camera and the second from a cell phone. Towards the end of the second clip you can see someone else recording the guy rolling around on the floor with his cell phone.
JeffC_95 on June 4, 2008 at 1:50 PM
Hmmm since I can’t see it… does it look like this?
http://glumbert.com/wii/view.php?name=baddayoffice
upinak on June 4, 2008 at 1:50 PM
Oh, sorry.
amerpundit on June 4, 2008 at 1:50 PM
BTW, the lady that gets hit by a computer monitor evidently gets a head wound.
GREAT ACTING!!
Hoodlumman on June 4, 2008 at 1:51 PM
It should be noted that the alleged security cam displays the date (MM/DD/YY) i.e. American style – not (DD/MM/YY) i.e. Russian style. Odd for a Russian security cam…
Realist on June 4, 2008 at 1:52 PM
Different camera shot, supposedly from the security camera:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=db1_1212454812
null on June 4, 2008 at 1:54 PM
Hey folks, at least AP didn’t rickroll you…
;-)
Red Pill on June 4, 2008 at 1:55 PM
Security cameras are actually bought via the U.S. because we make or have made better quality stuff. Most camera’s are U.S. date defined.
X10 is a company who sells them around the world and can be used via the computer.
upinak on June 4, 2008 at 1:56 PM
Maybe I am gullible, but I think it’s real. People got hurt in that video.
I agree 100%. There were some very unmanly displays in that video. Must be Obama supporters.
NotCoach on June 4, 2008 at 2:01 PM
http://wjno.blogspot.com/2008/06/definition-of-very-bad-day.html
If you look at the first video it’s more apparent, but it’s rare that you’d be able to record a computer monitor without any weird artifacts – http://youtube.com/watch?v=WIeFDv0IZSA – Especially CRT monitors. So in addition to the monitors apparently not having any cables, there’s also the fact that their screens are totally static. In the black and white video, check out the woman on the left lower corner. She’s typing away, doing nothing, apparently :P
apollyonbob on June 4, 2008 at 2:04 PM
Fake. No cable or power cord on that monitor??? Even if the cable wasn’t screwed in, either it or the power cord would have held on long enough to come into view.
db on June 4, 2008 at 2:04 PM
Yeah there’s also the security guard that gets hit by nothing but clutches his head anyway :P
apollyonbob on June 4, 2008 at 2:05 PM
I stand corrected.
It looks like an ad campaign… for yogurt.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3f7_1202581293
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bbe_1182815010
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=32e_1178428871
Hoodlumman on June 4, 2008 at 2:10 PM
db
yep. And either or both would have held long enough to keep the monitor from being tossed at all.
29Victor on June 4, 2008 at 2:12 PM
I say real, from the Hildebeasts’s HQ.
shaken on June 4, 2008 at 2:13 PM
Anyway, it’s obviously fake.
If it were real Obama would have swooped in, taken charge of the situation and solved all of the guys personal problems.
29Victor on June 4, 2008 at 2:13 PM
I don’t care if it’s fake. I laughed my head off.
CP on June 4, 2008 at 2:20 PM
StlDad on June 4, 2008 at 1:49 PM
I thought the same damn thing!!
Buncha girlymen…
bernzright777 on June 4, 2008 at 2:25 PM
heh
bernzright777 on June 4, 2008 at 2:27 PM
I’m waiting for Leonard Pith Garnells’ review
BDU-33 on June 4, 2008 at 2:32 PM
I vote real. You can see the guy taping the sound version by the back door chart, just as Mr. Meltdown starts swinging that long peice of whatever-it-is. And it does sound like all the yelling is in Russian.
Rod on June 4, 2008 at 2:33 PM
I’m calling fake. Much of the office equipment came apart way too easily.
Also, any real man would have made a move against this guy a lot sooner, and the maniac didn’t look like he had a lot of fight in him when confronted by others, which he would have if he had genuine rage in him.
It is my dream that some guy goes nuts in public so I can take him down and put a mad man in his place.
This guy was undoubtedly a liberal – unhappy people.
Grafted on June 4, 2008 at 2:33 PM
Apparently somebody took the last of his paperclips.
cat-scratch on June 4, 2008 at 2:33 PM
Not quite. It shows a man literally going berserk in an office, throwing monitors hitting people, standing on desks, etc…
Maybe. Just doesn’t look like it to me.
I’m not saying it’s real, but that’s not necessarily uncommon. My company doesn’t even use old monitors like that anymore, but while we still had some here, there were many just sitting on top of desks not being used. It was like a holding place.
Esthier on June 4, 2008 at 2:37 PM
Guess someone needs to get regular… in a bad way!
That video is funny. I am not sure who hasn’t seen it on HA, but I don’t know anyone who hasn’t wanted to go “postal” in their office at one time or another.
upinak on June 4, 2008 at 2:39 PM
I was thinking more of an “Office Space” meltdown: somebody took his stapler.
Sydney Carton on June 4, 2008 at 2:40 PM
It’s pretty obvious that it’s real. Everybody saying “it’s fake” just sounds like the guys in that OTHER web-circulated video where real people in a sales presentation act like commenters in a web thread – “First!!”, “Noob!”, “They did this on the Simpsons already”, etc.
- Cords come out of monitors when you yank them. And are insanely P.O.’d.
- An ad campaign wouldn’t use Russian profanities.
- The color cellphone cam matches the guy in the security camera footage taking it.
- The woman to the right of him REALLY gets hurt by the monitor he throws toward her.
So, lighten up and believe something on the internet already!
playblu on June 4, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Looks real to me. I think the security guard gave him a good shot to the nads at the end of the cell-phone footage linked by Rod.
forest on June 4, 2008 at 2:50 PM
I’m going with real, just because.
TexasDan on June 4, 2008 at 2:51 PM
This looks real to me. The reactions of the people around are far to natural. You can see the guy with the video camera running in about halfway through the black/white security video. I just wonder why it tool so long for that little security guy to get there, and why it took even longer for anyone to help him out. In America this guy would have been taken out in about 15 seconds.
cannonball on June 4, 2008 at 2:52 PM
Somehow I knew AP would post this. :)
JayHaw Phrenzie on June 4, 2008 at 2:55 PM
Hmmm… that’s a tough call. I was saying “fake, fake, fake” for a while, but then it started seeming more real, and especially after watching the clip with audio I’m going to lean more “real” than fake. I hope we get an answer, I’m intrigued.
RightWinged on June 4, 2008 at 2:58 PM
On older monitors, the power cord was just plugged into the monitor. The video cable was just held in at most by two little screws, so they probably come right out.
Considering how much alcohol is consumed in Russia, I don’t see any reason why that isn’t real.
pedestrian on June 4, 2008 at 2:58 PM
Dwayne finally loses it.
Jim snickers.
Michael hides in his office.
Sefton on June 4, 2008 at 3:20 PM
No wires on first monitor thrown. Fake
roux on June 4, 2008 at 3:24 PM
I have no opinion on whether the video is real or not. But in this modern age, if you are in a crowded area, especially crowded with affluent or younger people, and you cause a ruckus, you *will* be filmed.
HeIsSailing on June 4, 2008 at 3:26 PM
how do you account for the co-worker getting hit full on with the first monitor?
the second thrown monitor bounces once the connected cord snags.
once in a while, things are what they appear to be.
jimmer on June 4, 2008 at 3:44 PM
On top of that, most people don’t bother screwing in the video cable.
Also, check out the second monitor toss — the cord(s) stopped the monitor in mid-air. It would take a lot of thought to get that detail *just right*.
My verdict: plausible.
Tinian on June 4, 2008 at 3:44 PM
I know the feeling…
Esthier on June 4, 2008 at 3:45 PM
I don’t know whether it’s fake or not, but the other guys in the office sure took a long time to tackle this maniac.
Then again, lots of people were cowering under desks at Virginia Tech when a certain Cho was shooting people. If several brave male students had rushed him from different directions all at once, tackled him and taken his gun away, some of the victims would still be alive today. The only man who challenged him was a 70-year-old teacher.
Steve Z on June 4, 2008 at 3:59 PM
If it is staged it’s pretty good. The action is messy and chaotic just like in real life and if those are actors they’re taking some big physical risks. They’re also sufficiently dumpy to be real office workers.
Gilda on June 4, 2008 at 4:00 PM
That seems to be a natural reaction to a life-threatening situation.
Esthier on June 4, 2008 at 4:13 PM
Looks real to me. The camera footage appears to be from a security camera; it’s too steady for a phone camera, and it shot from the point of view of the ceiling at a corner of the room, just where you’d expect a secuity camera to be mounted.
Just hard to believe it took so long for anyone to take the guy down- someone throws a freakin monitor at me at work (especially in front of witnesses), and it’s go time, baby.
Hollowpoint on June 4, 2008 at 4:14 PM
There’s a pretty big difference between charging someone armed with a gun and someone armed with a computer monitor, dude. The guy with a gun may only get one of those charging him, but no one wants to be that person.
Hollowpoint on June 4, 2008 at 4:21 PM
When I saw this early this morning on AoSHQ the first thing I thought of was “so, this is how Keith Olbermann handles criticism.”
Thomas
MrAndMrsSmith on June 4, 2008 at 4:27 PM
In addition to other things, I run an online store that’s based on php coded developed by a Russian company. So my stores support guys are in Russia.
I just sent them the following:
This has nothing to do with the store.
Just wondering if :
1: This happened in Russia?
2: Is it real?
3: And if 1 and 2 are true, is that Denis jumping up and down on the desk?
Denis is my tech support guy. I’ll let you all know what they say.
Rod on June 4, 2008 at 4:30 PM
The second monitor didn’t “just stop in mid-air” it hit the corner of the wall. It wasn’t plugged in.
And what about the missing 33 seconds when the video craps out? (timestamp goes to 12:11 PM at 53 seconds in, video craps out at 1:19 and when it comes back at 1:20 the timestamp says 12:12 and then goes to 12:13 exactly one minute later) Did he really spend 33 seconds in one place?
I figure the guy slipped off of the desk and they cut out the part where he got back up and told everyone that he was okay.
And…yes. I have way too much time on my hands.
29Victor on June 4, 2008 at 4:38 PM
At the end of the cell phone video, I thought I heard him screaming “Don’t tase me, Bro!”
Mallard T. Drake on June 4, 2008 at 5:06 PM
Fake
RobCon on June 4, 2008 at 5:12 PM
The monitors are quite dated, shamsters.
Tobias2012 on June 4, 2008 at 5:51 PM
Funny how these videos are always perfectly framed on the action, and in focus to see everything. Just like those alien-looking-in-the-window videos.
Neo on June 4, 2008 at 6:29 PM
Takes place in Russia. Hell, here in the US one of my monitors at work is quite dated.
Hollowpoint on June 4, 2008 at 6:56 PM
Well, here’s the official word from my Russian tech team.
They are always so serious.
Thank you for providing the video.
Judging by the language, this scene took place somewhere in a Russian or Ukranian office. I would like to assure you that this incident has nothing to do with our company. I suppose such cases are very rare in Russia, but they may happen in any country since we are all human beings. Probably, this guy was fed up with something. As for me, I feel sorry for him.
As for Denis, then he is rather a reserved and self-controlled person and will never afford such an improper behaviour. Hope I satisfied your curiosity.
Feel free to ask any questions.
–
Sincerely yours,
Yulia Selezneva
Technical Support, Dispatcher
Rod on June 4, 2008 at 7:17 PM
If it wasn’t plugged in and hit the corner of a wall (actually a partition) it would’ve caromed off of it. But it didn’t — it stopped cold in its tracks. The laws of physics are immutable.
Tinian on June 4, 2008 at 7:49 PM
The monitor toss that I’m talking about is in the upper-right hand corner. It hits the corner of the wall, just to the right of the corner that it hits is a door in the wall. It’s not a partition.
29Victor on June 4, 2008 at 7:55 PM
The toss I’m referencing is at 58 seconds.
29Victor on June 4, 2008 at 7:56 PM
After a second and third look I admit you’re right — the monitor did hit the corner. I still think, however, it’s entirely plausible. Office drones aren’t known for their cajones.
Tinian on June 4, 2008 at 8:23 PM
Global Warming.
Bladerunner1701 on June 5, 2008 at 12:04 AM
Fake. The monitors are moving all over the place when he accidentally nudges them. They’re cardboard.
Ludwig on June 5, 2008 at 12:21 AM
It sounded like he got zapped twice at the end of the clip with the audio.
As for being fake, it looked like the person he threw the first monitor at got whacked pretty good with it for being faked.
91Veteran on June 5, 2008 at 12:29 AM
Probably freaked because he was told he would have to attend another team building session.
91Veteran on June 5, 2008 at 12:31 AM
Cinematical reports it was a fake. Its a viral marketing clip for a movie.
BelchSpeak on June 12, 2008 at 1:38 PM
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