The man who ‘died’ to make a splash on social media
Harmless stunts or pleas for attention? You won’t believe what some people do to create videos for the internet.
Are you worried about what your friends and relatives will say about you when you’re gone?
Well, perhaps you’ll take a leaf out of Belgian social media star David Baertan’s book and attend your own funeral to find out!
With his wife’s cooperation, Baertan, 45, faked his own death and arrived at the open-air funeral by helicopter – an event that was filmed and streamed on Facebook.
He later appeared on his TikTok channel explaining that he pulled the stunt to see who among his circle really cared for him.
Beartan may have gone to extremes, but he’s not the first, nor will he be the last, to conduct an attention-seeking stunt on social media.
Sometimes they are humorous and harmless. Mr Beast, a YouTuber with more than 100 million followers whose real name is James Stephen Donaldson, mainly operates in this realm.
For example, he created a real-life version of The Squid Game – without killing the unsuccessful contestants, as happened in the popular South Korean drama – and it garnered 438 million views.
He also took over an entire cruise ship for a day and made headlines when he claimed he turned down an invitation for a trip on the ill-fated Titan submersible, which imploded last month, killing five people.
To his credit, Donaldson has also become known for his philanthropy, including paying for cataract surgery for 1,000 people, adopting every dog in a shelter, and conducting an online challenge that raised $20 million to plant trees for Arbor Day.
But not everybody who seeks online attention ends up rich and famous.
Things went very wrong for 22-year-old Pedro Ruiz, who wanted to use his YouTube channel to “prove” the old Western cliché that a book could stop a bullet.
He stood behind the book and told his pregnant girlfriend to fire a gun at it. He ended up dead, and she landed in jail.
Several people have fallen to their deaths while taking selfies from high-rise buildings or perched precariously on cliffs.
As far back as 2011, Acton Beale died while “planking” – lying flat, in this case on balcony railings seven floors up – for a Facebook video.
Other popular social media stunts have included:
Ice Bucket Challenge, where people poured a bucket of ice water over their heads and then challenged others to do the same. It aimed to raise awareness and funds for research into ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a form of motor neuron disease).
Mannequin Challenge. Participants would freeze in place while a camera moved around them. It became popular on Twitter and Instagram, with celebrities and sporting teams participating.
Harlem Shake: This involved a short video clip where one person started dancing alone, then suddenly the scene cut to a group of people going wild and dancing in bizarre costumes or situations.
Duct Tape Challenge: Participants would be duct-taped to a wall or other object and try to free themselves. While initially popular, this stunt gained criticism due to the risk of injury and accidents.
New stunts are emerging online all the time and whatever you make of them, they at least tend to prove the statement attributed to flamboyant pop artist Andy Warhol in 1968 that “in the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes”.
