Seth Green Freaking Out video confirmed as a hoax

By Andrew Wallenstein

The new 30-second "Seth Green Freaking Out" video is a hoax, a source confirmed.

Not since the Zapruder film has footage sown as much confusion as this clip depicting what appears to be an on-set temper tantrum thrown by Green, who seems unaware that a camera was rolling until the very end. Since surfacing on YouTube yesterday, giants of journalism from Gawker to Popeater have puzzled over whether it is a hoax or not. Green suggested on his own website (see below) that it was the real deal.

See "Seth Green Freaking Out" video here.

Of course this is a fake. The YouTube hoax is a well-worn genre by now, from the work of Bob Odenkirk to Pauly Shore. Frankly, we're a little disappointed that Green didn't do much here to elevate the genre; more should be expected from a pretty Web savvy guy.

And therein lies the first of several clues one should look for when trying to determine whether a video is a hoax or not. Could it really be coincidental that a guy who has been actively involved in producing viral videos before would just happen to be the unwitting subject of his own? Recall he already produced a hoax over at FunnyOrDie with Breckin Meyer and Zac Efron that was really a promotion for a "Robot Chicken" DVD release.

Now you might be scratching your head, saying, but I don't see in this video what the product being promoted actually is!? Exactly. First counterintuitive rule of online stealth marketing: If you want to promote a particular product, don't put the product in the video. That's too obvious. Save it for a follow-up video.

Next clue: If every second of the clip seems just a wee too good at reinforcing a sense that it is some kind of spontaneous home video, then it isn't a spontaneous home video. Note that while there's a nicely cultivated chaos to the mise en scene here, from the overhead light bobbing in and out of the frame to the paparazzi-style scrap with the camera at the end, Green's monologue is just a bit too crammed with exposition. To Green's credit, he's a little too good at seeming traumatized enough to summon every ounce of strength in his elfin frame to flip a table (OK, tip a table; there's only so much strength in an elfin frame).

Enough said. Sorry, Generation Y, you've been robbed of a Christian Bale incident to call your own. For now. Let's hope no child in America will ever be misled by a hoax-cum-marketing technique ever again. 

A representative for Green declined comment.

Comments

[Shero]

Everyone have time like this ...

But the important to learn from our mistakes and as he said : It won't happen again !

Let's hope it will not happen again ;-)

[Mace Moneta]

If you read the image of the official statement you posted above, it says:

"I feel like I might have overacted..."

Overacted, not overreacted. :)

[Durr]

The reason it's fake is because it looks real? It must be a viral campaign for something because there is no trace of a product to be found in it? Nah, it's gotta be fake because Seth apologized for his reaction. Oh no, sorry, "A source" confirmed it. That's nice. A source confirmed I was the coolest kid in elementary school, that source may or may not have been my mom, but it's totally reliable.

[Ryan]

Writer, you do realize he was saying he was mugged, right? It may very well been authentic.

[Parker]

Hmm, I just went to the website and he states he "overreacted", not "overacted" as has been doctored above.
What's up with this article?
Very confusing. I'd be freaked out if two guys jumped me. And if it is a hoax, it got enough people checking it out.
Publicity!

[Joe Shmitte]

A source just confirmed that this website sucks.

[Borrid]

Wow this article is stupid.

It has no evidence to show its a hoax, saying a "source" confirmed it...

Just wow.

[sonny]

What a shity website this is. Where's the proof? Assholes

[valentines day]

It must be a viral campaign for something because there is no trace of a product to be found in it? Yet nice post I must say.

[darkfall gold]

Nice article.I very much crazy about this.We are waiting your next article.