If you’re one of the millions across the globe who has seen that clever cellphone popcorn video, then you have probably tried it for yourself.  Using your mobile phone and three others from your friends or family, you placed the phones on top of a table around a few popcorn kernels.  You then rang the phones and waited for the corn kernels to pop, of course all to no avail.

But then again if you’re one of the fanatics who have hounded this dumbfounding flick ever since it gained worldwide reputation, then you must probably know that the video is a hoax.

The Experts’ Verdict

The people fromWired.Com just couldn’t be had.  Just as the cellphone popcorn flick hit cult status, they sought the expert opinion of nothing less than a physics professor.  Well, they didn’t really want to burst anyone’s bubble (or maybe they just had the intention), but the expert unsurprisingly declared that there’s no way in the real physical world it could happen. Of course in the movies, including cute video clips such as these, physics, ethics, and just about every law you can think of can be easily defied.

Consider a popcorn kernel encircled by a hundred or so opera singers belting their lungs out with a singular purpose of popping that corn. What do you guess will happen? Not much except for maybe a deaf corn kernel.  That’s just akin to cooking the kernel with cellphones’ simultaneously ringing.

Or better yet, picture a real potent corn popping mobile phone.  If that is the case, then why hasn’t anyone ever reported experiencing his/her fingers or brain pop while making a call?

Wired.com further purported that the cellphone popcorn video smelled so fishy it resembled a viral marketing video.

The Confession

Lo and behold, someone did crack up and proudly admitted to the clever ruse. Cardo Systems owned up with pride to this “significant social contribution” with the intent to market their Bluetooth headset devices. The company even topped the marketing ad with a claim that their devices reduce the corn-popping power that go into people’s ears.

They sure did generate enough mouse clicks and keyboard punches from millions of hooked viewers in order to cook up a bucket-full of popcorn, and that’s what makes it remarkably clever.

But cooking up a ruckus to turn up the traffic volume to their website is just one thing.  Generating enough sales out of the cellphone popcorn viral video is the real challenge.  But then again, getting people to talk about their product is publicity. And you know how it goes in the showbiz industry – all publicity is good publicity. GP

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