London
(ANI):
A
German
company
has
admitted
that
its
video
showing
michael
jackson
alive
was
a
hoax
created
only
to
experiment
on
online
conspiracy
theories.
German
TV
company
RTL
had
uploaded
the
video
on
YouTube
for
a
day.
The
video
that
has
been
since
removed
had
received
880,000
hits.
Sky
News
quoted
RTL
spokeswoman
Heike
Schultz
as
saying:
"We
wanted
to
show
how
easily
users
can
be
manipulated
on
the
internet
with
hoax
videos.
Therefore,
we
created
this
video
of
michael
jackson
being
alive,
even
though
everybody
knows
by
now
that
he
is
dead
-
and
the
response
was
breathtaking."
The
video,
posted
under
an
'anonymous
source',
showed
a
coroner's
van
entering
what
appeared
to
be
an
underground
car
park.
A
man,
who
had
the
same
build
and
hair
as
Jackson,
was
escorted
from
the
vehicle
and
through
a
doorway.
Schultz
said:
"Unfortunately,
many
people
believed
it
was
true.
Even
though
we
tried
to
create
the
video
in
a
way
that
every
normal
user
can
see
right
away
that
it
is
a
fake."
Heike
revealed
the
video
was
filmed
near
Cologne
in
Germany
and
"definitely
not
in
the
US".
Speaking
on
the
angry
reaction
of
some
Jackson
fans,
Schultz
said:
"We
didn't
want
to
dishonour
michael
jackson,
but
we
needed
a
strong
name
to
get
this
experiment
going.
Had
we
used
Britney
Spears,
then
the
fans
of
Britney
would
have
complained."