A YouTube video entitled “eHarmony Video Bio” has absolutely blown up overnight, pretty much epitomizing the term “going viral.” The video wants you to believe that it is some sort of leaked online dating service bio, and it features a young, attractive girl with an extreme affinity for her feline companions.
The video info says, “I’m Debbie, I love cats and I just want a soulmate!” And that basically sums it up. The 2 1/2 minute video starts off quite normal and then turns really funny when Debbie can’t get a grip on her emotions when talking about cats.
The video has been picked up by a ton of blogs and news sites, ranging from Mashable to CBS. Some play it pretty straight, talking about how crazy Debbie is and making no mention of the validity. Others are more skeptical. Check it out:
It’s definitely not a real eHarmony dating service video bio, that I can say with certainty. It’s an acting job, and a pretty funny one at that. The video on YouTube was first posted on June 3rd and already has almost 3/4 of a million views. Sure, it’s fake, but it’s a lesson on how to go viral. People love the crazy.
The video was posted by user hartmanncara, who has another video on her channel entitled “Cara and Kara.” The video features the same girl as the cat video, but this time she acts as a pair of Siamese twins named, as you would expect, Cara and Kara.
So the main question with something like this – does “fakeness” serve as the kiss of death? Can a viral vid still have value if it is not completely, 100% authentic to its premise? In the case of humorous videos, “fakeness” is less of a factor. Sure, the video would have been much funnier if it was an actual eHarmony bio. But the fact that it’s a skit doesn’t take everything away from it, as it’s still pretty enjoyable (Because c’mon, you know some crazy cat girl really does exists out there).
On the flip side, here’s an example of when authenticity is vital: The Facebook Sleeve Tattoo Girl. On Wednesday, we (and many others) brought you the video of an anonymous girl getting an arm tattoo of 152 Facebook friends. We mentioned that it was designed by Pretty Social, a Dutch company that puts Facebook collages on items like handbags, laptop covers and lampshades.
Turns out the video was fake, staged as a marketing promotion for Pretty Social. The tat was apparently a temporary one, according to DutchNews.
However, Rotterdam tattoo artist Dex Moelker eventually came clean on the Telegraaf website, admitting the tattoo and video is an advertising stunt.
‘It is a try out tattoo, a transfer, that washes off in a couple of days,’ Moelker, who has a tattoo shop in Rotterdam, told the paper. It took a couple of hours to apply the transfer not the 30 hours the video claimed to produce the real tattoo
So laugh on, people of the internet. Fake or not, it’s still a pretty good video. Even with all that crying, though, I wonder if Debbie loves cats as much as Mitch Hedberg loves Koala Bears.