“I’m calling the Internet police” states an older woman above the ruckus of a young man bashing objects in the background. The viewer quickly learns hackers have taken control of her grandson’s YouTube account.
The woman goes on to state her grandson has been making a ruckus for 10 days and she is “sick of listening to this” and “this Internet stuff is driving me crazy.” At one point, the young man screams “I don’t like YouTube any way!”
Uploaded onto YouTube on August 3, “Give Michael his account back” has every sign of being genuine. There are no products in focus, and the Grandma’s — and her grandson’s– behavior seems genuine.
The channel on which the video “Give Michael his account back” was posted offers some clues that hint otherwise. The channel, named CopperVision, was created by CopperCab, an Internet celebrity known for his explosive anger.
CopperCab rocketed to fame last year with his video titled “Gingers Do Have Souls” — a rant inspired by a South Park episode making fun of redheads. South Park was so taken by CopperCab’s angry words, that they then parodied him.
“Gingers Do Have Souls” went on to become a meme (a CopperCab entry on KnowYourMeme database sealed the deal), and t-shirts printed with the words “Gingers Do Have Souls” are still readily available.
Many YouTube commentors have taken to crying “Fake” on “Give Michael his account back.” video – or as one redditor put it, this video might be “faking the suspension”. “Faking the suspension” is term that implies someone is feigning hurt over a perceived slight in order to gain sympathy.
CopperCab’s earlier work suggests a “faking the suspension” quality, but there might be some truth to the Grandma’s words when she says, “give my grandson his account back.” The original CopperCab channel displays mean-spirited words in the bio: “ Hi my name is Michael, I’m a fat ginger. I’m an insane pompous little asshole with no self discipline or self control. “
Other videos in the original channel show CopperCab fighting trolls, even addressing them in videos like “ATTENTION HATERS“ or “ STOP OR ELSE.” On second glance, “STOP OR ELSE” comes off as a “trolling the trolls” attempt, making Grandma’s plea a bit less believable. Did CopperCab change the description himself?
Another bit of proof; in CopperCab’s second channel, titled CopperVision, he explains he created the new channel in order to distance himself from his past videos — if that was the case, why would he want his old channel back?
Whether or not the Grandma is acting, “Give Michael his account back” as a viral video touches on bullying, fame, and identity on the Internet. And that makes it worthy of being noted.
CopperCab was unavailable for a comment.