So that video of a hawk throwing a snake at a picnicking family on the banks of the Yarra River. We’ve all seen it by now; it racked up a ridiculous amount of views in a very short amount of time.
We can confirm it’s fake….#EmbraceTheHunt
??: https://t.co/urSaFeQ9AP pic.twitter.com/ZNzhsw2TeI
— Hawthorn FC (@HawthornFC) September 1, 2016
The Hawks owned up to the stunt, revealed they’d partnered with The Woolshed (who’d previously made just about every other similar-lookin’ viral vid in the past, leading me to believe they’re sprinting headlong into a “boy who cried wolf” situation very soon) to create the vid in order to launch their AFL Finals marketing campaign, “#EmbraceTheHunt.”
“Hawthorn’s media team partnered with Melbourne production company, The Woolshed, in an attempt to create a video that would encapsulate the club’s finals theme and generate widespread media coverage.
Embrace the Hunt launched on Wednesday afternoon as the Hawks begin their quest for a fourth straight premiership.”
“It was quite incredible. We wanted everyone to know that it’s September and the Hawks are on the attack and hopefully we’ve succeeded.Our aim was to create a real buzz around the launch of our seventh consecutive finals campaign and really get people talking.The debate over its authenticity has been had by various media outlets across both Australia and the globe.”
The statement concludes by championing the sheer amount of views the video was able to accumulate.
“The fake video generated over 5 million views in 48-hours and has been published by multiple media outlets around the world.”
And fair play to you, the vid certainly got us, and a big heap of the public as well.