On May 17, 2024, the Black Camel Agency (@blackcamelagency) TikTok account posted a video of a work meeting on Google Meet. Google Meet is a video-conferencing app similar to Zoom. The text caption read, “Always double-check that your camera is off.” The video’s on screen caption displayed, “We should have known the moment she sat back.”
The meeting’s participants included four women. The names of the four women appeared on screen as Holly Deutschmann, Caia Olieslager, Amy Haddon and Savannah Jorissen.
During the video, Deutschmann claims she has a bad connection and attempts to turn off her camera. However, her camera remains on as she begins vaping and then jumping once on her bed. Jorissen then informs Deutschmann her camera is still visible. Deutschmann pretends her connection is breaking up and then leaves the meeting. As of this writing, the TikTok video received nearly 5 million views.
Real or Fake?
The truth of this video from the Black Camel Agency TikTok account was the four women staged the clip. The reasons for the creation of the video appeared twofold. First, the video served as a solid viral marketing technique. Second, the women likely also created the video simply for fun. After all, one of the hashtags shared with the video read, “#funnyvideo.”
RELATED: “‘Woman Vanishes During Traffic Stop’ TikTok Video, Explained”
The Video’s Transcript
I transcribed the entire video in the case the video might become unavailable in the future. The video played out as follows:
OLIESLAGER: Ok cool. So we have seven actors at the moment. Um…
DEUTSCHMANN: I have something. I’m just gonna, uh, my connection’s really bad. I don’t really have much input, so I’m just gonna mute myself and uh…
OLIESLAGER: Ok. Ok. No problem. Um, and then, we’re just waiting on a few additional…
HADDON: Are we happy with all seven actors, or are we running to shortlist them?
(DEUTSCHMANN vapes on screen)
OLIESLAGER: We do want to shortlist them but we’re just waiting for the audition tapes to see who’s, you know, who’s going to be better.
HADDON: Ok, and then location. How are you with that?
OLIESLAGER: So, we’ve already sorted out. Location’s been booked and paid for.
(Deutschmann jumps onto her bed)
OLIESLAGER: Um, um… Um, Holly?
JORISSEN: Sorry, I got distracted there. Holly, you know your camera’s not off yet? I don’t know what that was but we did see it.
DEUTSCHMANN (pretending to experience connection issues): Sorry guys. My connection’s just really … I just … I can’t … I just …
JORISSEN: You’re still online.
OLIESLAGER: We can still see you.
(Deutschmann leaves the meeting)
User Comments
One of the most-liked user comments read, “I literally refuse to believe this is true.” That comment received over 49,900 likes.
Another comment receiving nearly 1,700 likes read, “I just want to know if she’s still employed.”
In a different comment, a user said, “The pretending the connection is bad making the situation worse. I’m done.”
One person said of the situation presented in the video, “My resignation would be handed in by the end of the day because I couldn’t recover from that.”
In other words, many users either commented or liked other comments indicating they believed the video to be authentic.
Black Camel Agency
According to the Black Camel Agency website on blackcamel.agency, the company has multiple office locations. Those locations include Dubai, Cape Town in South Africa, London in England and Durham, North Carolina in the U.S.
The Black Camel Agency Facebook page describes the company in one simple sentence. That sentence reads, “Video ad creative production for B2B companies that need to differentiate in a crowded category.”
The LinkedIn page for the agency states that the company has its headquarters at its office in North Carolina. The page also mentions a founding year of 2022.
Jordan’s Comment
With this video and other staged videos just like it, some people often ask “how in the world” anyone would believe they’re authentic. The truth about such videos is not all online users are the same. Sometimes, what’s “obvious” to one person is not obvious at all to many others.
I just finished a day of work in which I reviewed dozens of AI-created images absolutely looking as fake as can be. Some of those AI images featured dozens, hundreds or even thousands of comments. In those comments, Facebook users indicated they believed the fake photos as real. The fake pictures displayed illustrations of patriotic babies, Jesus Christ and soldiers in wheelchairs. None of the images were real but people believed them anyway.
In the case of the funny Black Camel Agency video, several signs should tip viewers off to its staged reality. For instance, why was Jorissen recording the video with what likely was her phone? Why would Deutschmann (or anyone attending a work meeting) say she doesn’t have any input to offer? Lastly, Haddon pretending to experience connection issues displayed a humorous bit to the video.
Note: If any of the employees from Black Camel Agency find my article, hello and bravo for achieving success with the video.
i dont care if it was staged, it was the funniest thing ive seen all year! well done to them!!!!!!!