Video: Shell's fake rig spews liquor over guests at PR event Special

Seattle - A recently uploaded video shows a Shell launch event gone horribly wrong: a small fake oil rig designed to pour drinks malfunctioned and ended up spraying fancily dressed guests with liquor like an out-of-control hose. Some believe it's a hoax.

The video title sums it up: #ShellFail. Recorded by Occupy protester Logan Price who somehow gained entry into the invite-only event, the video took place at the Seattle Space Needle to commemorate Royal Dutch Shell drilling in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas off Alaska's north shore. The video shows a display of a three-foot-high scale model of their Arctic drilling rig, the Kulluk, constructed to pump liquor for the guests. A basin of a cocktail drink purported to be rum and Coke was placed nearby, attached to the little rig. When the original Chief Engineer of the Kulluk rig was asked to do the honours and offer a drink to the widow of the man who'd designed the Kulluk back in the 1980s, things didn't go smoothly. At all. When he began using the tap, the mini-rig began spewing liquor straight into the woman's face and chest, causing mass panic in the room. The video shows other people rushing to contain the "spill", with the chief engineer asking frantically how to turn it off and getting little help. Price recounts, "At this point the guy who was presenting the new ad campaign told me to turn off my camera and got pretty aggressive." Photos of the incident were also posted on Price's Twitter feed. The event was billed as "New Frontiers: A Celebration of Seattle's Energy Leaders." To some online outlets, it's all a hoax, as Gawker reports. Shell states they have no involvement with this video or event. Digital Journal contacted the PR firm allegedly associated with the event, and Jesse Fischer, director of communications at Wainwright & Shore, replied in a statement, "Wainwright and Shore regrets the fact that a small incident at the Space Needle last night has been blown out of all proportion by a small number of online sources. We delivered a first class event, and despite a small malfunction on one of the evening's props our guests left happy and entertained. The incident was quickly contained and in fact our client later congratulated us on a hugely successful evening."