Shell PR Fail Video: Viral Sensation is a Hoax

Fake Shell 'PR Fail' Video

A video that purports to show a Shell Oil PR stunt gone wrong has been all over the web today. The video, filmed in Seattle's Space Needle, shows some Royal Dutch Shell execs firing up a scale model of an oil rig, which is meant to pump liquor.

The widow of the oil rig's designer is brought up to fill the first glass, but the oil rig malfunctions, squirting the hapless woman with dark fluid. Occupy Seattle posted the video on their website, saying that it was shot by a local named Logan Price.

Something in the woman's reaction, though, doesn't seem quite... natural. However, the PR flack asking for the shooter's phone is a nice touch.

The video works as a great social commentary on drilling in the Arctic, but it's also a hoax. Popular belief is that this is the work of The Yes Men, via a fake PR firm called Wainright & Shore. Presumably Logan Price was in on the stunt.

(Homework by Adrian Chen)