Shell's Arctic Plan Hoaxed

Environmental activists stage an elaborate internet video hoax in protest at Shell's plans to drill in Arctic waters

According to 'Upstream' the hoax started with a video purporting to show a public relations event hosted by Shell at the Space Needle in Seattle, where the ice-class drilling barge Kulluk and drillship Noble Discoverer are docked awaiting deployment to Alaska.

In the video, shot with a shaky camera phone, an elderly woman attempts to get a drink from a miniature dispenser designed to look like a drilling rig. As she struggles to pour the drink, the dispenser malfunctions and spews brownish liquid all over the horrified woman. "Turn it off!" demands one of the actors portraying a Shell official. "I can't turn it off!" another responds.

The fake video, entitled #ShellFAIL, was posted on the front page of popular internet site Reddit and was linked to and tweeted repeatedly, reportedly hitting the number two slot on YouTube's most-watched videos on Thursday. It was followed up by an emailed "press release", which was also fake, sent to many media outlets on behalf of Shell.

Shell later issued a real statement on the hoax: "Recently groups that oppose Shell’s plans in offshore Alaska have posted a video that purports to show Shell employees at an event at the Seattle Space Needle.  Shell did not host, nor participate in an event at the Space Needle and the video does not involve Shell or any of its employees. A fake press release claiming that Shell is considering legal action following the launch of the video was also distributed to the media.

Click here to see the video.