Chainsaw Robot Attacks Crowd At Exhibition

Rob SchwarzDecember 14, 2011Last Updated: March 8, 2021

An alleged robot runs into a crowd with a chainsaw — Image: YouTube

So I’m reading an article on Mashable about a new robot that can, what else, make sandwiches. It’s very interesting; you should check it out.

However, after watching the video accompanying that article, I stumbled upon something even more curious.

Whoa. What’s going on over there?

My first reaction: Why give a robot a chainsaw?

Of course, I didn’t initially stop to think that maybe the video wasn’t real. I like finding weird stuff like this, and it’s sometimes disappointing to learn the truth (suspension of disbelief is very important in this…business).

But then I found another video:

Both videos allegedly take place at a robot exhibition called Botex 2011 in Tokyo, Japan.

When I found this second video, I was especially skeptical, as the robots looked and moved like, well, people. Then, taking a closer look, I decided that the “robot” in the first video also looked a bit too humanoid, and it moved too naturally.

I did some more digging and, in the end, it turns out that this is all (probably) just a viral marketing campaign.

Rossum’s Universal (Chainsaw Murderer) Robots

I’m actually a big fan of viral marketing and alternate reality games; I was really into the viral stuff leading up to Cloverfield, for example. And this seems even more intriguing.

The big give away that this is all fake, though? This video. It’s the weakest link of the lot, an overproduced mock news segment about the fictional event.

So, it’s not real. But what’s it all about? A new murderous robot movie? An alternate reality game (ARG)? Just something random on the Internet? IEEE Spectrum spotted another video on Youtube that adds even more intrigue to this viral fire:

I’ll be curious to see how this campaign pans out, and what it leads to.

Update (02/17/2012)

Almost forgot about this one! As it turns out, this was all just a viral marketing campaign for a Swedish television series called “Real Humans” (or “Äkta Människor”), airing now on STV1.

Here’s a clip!