Popping Popcorns with Cellphones

About

Circa June 2008, hard-to-believe videos titled “cellphone popcorn” began to surface on YouTube, catching the attention of internet users as well as the mainstream media and tech blogs. The video clips depicted a group of people gathered around a table with their cellphones and when they proceeded to dial their phone numbers, popcorn kernels went off in the air, as if they were affected by the heat caused from cellular transmission.

Hyped by their mysterious nature and international sightings (originally featured in French, English and Japanese), the videos reached one million view count within the first week of debut and gave birth to a series of YouTube spoofs and parodies. Meanwhile, tech bloggers began discussing the scientific feasibility of such experiments; many others speculated that the videos, despite being filmed in multiple locations with different people, were a hoax.

Derivatives & Spoofs

More to come…

Hoax & Viral Marketing

It was soon revealed that the videos were part of a viral marketing campaign luanched by Cardo Wireless, a US-Based Bluetooth technology company.

CNN Interviews Cardo’s CEO about the Hoax: