Hot Problems - A Fake!

By seamus -
If you've been alive and on the Internet this past April, then you've probably heard of the music video hailed as the next "Friday" by the Huff Post: Hot Problems.

Well, it's fake.


The video has gathered 12 million views in the month since then, although its popularity stems from the inflammatory reactions most viewers experience ( the like/dislike bar on Youtube has looked like a red lightsaber since the day the video was posted). Interestingly enough, it appears that the Huffington Posts and other websites that posted the video and made comparisons to Rebecca Black's magnum opus had probably known it was a fabrication, but for some reason decided to go along with it.


The YouTube channel that hosted the video, OldBaileyProductions, had videos related to Cal State-Northridge and connections to the university's film geeks. But as "Hot Problems" took off, all the other videos were removed and the channel changed to appear to be Double Take's official YouTube channel. The "band" has no other online pages, especially in social media.

OldBaileyProduction's old channel look

After "Hot Problems" was initially posted, OldBaileyProductions commented on the Lexi St. George video ( Lexi is ARK Music Factory's new post-Rebecca Black creation), which says: "Come check out my page if you want to get a fucking laugh at the new artist 'Double Take'!!!" OldBaileyProductions has also been linked to Alex Goyette, a YouTube comedian and parody creator that operates on the channel JouleThief.

OBP's commend on Lexi St. George's video


Further interviews cemented the connection between OldBailey, Double Take and Cal State, as well as revealed that the man behind the channel could be Connor Abrams, who posts videos on other websites credited to OldBailey, and is also from the same home town as the two minors in the video.

So there you have it. Apparently, viral is something that can be manufactured provided you can purposefully create something really bad.

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