With news of a shark in Lake Ontario, everybody is freaking out, just as intended for this Discovery Channel Shark Week campaign. Even though it's totally impossible to find a bull shark off the coast off of Canada's Wolfe Island, as YouTube's "Fisher86" did, it still generated tons of questions and concerns. Like any good video of a creature sighting, the video is shaky and it's hard to really be sure if what you're looking at is a shark, but there is a very distinct gray fin that's not very dolphin-like.
The video has been confirmed a hoax and in a statement by Discovery, reiterating that "Discovery wants to quell the concerns of Canadians everywhere and reveal that the widely-circulated video of a shark swimming in Lake Ontario is, in fact, not a real shark," but you have to admit it probably does get you amped and maybe a little scared for Shark Week.
What Makes This Trend Stand Out
- Prankvertising
- Creating hoax videos to generate attention and engagement for marketing campaigns.
- Viral Hoaxes
- Deliberately spreading fake information to capture public interest and generate buzz.
- Controversial Marketing
- Using provocative and misleading tactics to attract attention to a brand or product.
Sectors Adopting This
- Advertising
- Opportunities for brands to create innovative and attention-grabbing campaigns through disruptive marketing techniques.
- Social Media
- The potential for viral hoaxes to take advantage of the viral nature of social media platforms to gain widespread attention.
- Entertainment
- Using controversial marketing tactics to generate excitement and engagement in the entertainment industry.
