A hoverboard video that went viral this week and had everyone asking if hoverboards were finally real was revealed as a fake and Tony Hawk has offered an apology for the stunt.
“I thought it would be obvious that it was fake,” the professional skateboarder said.
“Clearly,”
Wired magazine's Rhett Allain quipped, “Tony hasn’t been spending enough time on the Internet.”
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The viral video from Funny or Die extolled what seemed to be a real hoverboard, just like the one in “Back to the Future 2,” and featured Hawk, Christopher Lloyd (who played Doc in “Back to the Future”), Moby and others promoting this “new” technology. The original YouTube video that showed people swooping about a foot off the ground on a HUVr hoverboard was posted Tuesday and has more than 1.2 million views.
Wired pointed out that the technology is a possibility someday in the distant future, as a mini helicopter with rotors that can lift a person in the air is in the same vein as the fictitious product. But the “anti-gravity” disks on the bottom of the HUVr hoverboard “would [only] work if there was such a thing as anti-gravity,” the website explained.
As Funny or Die posted a video Wednesday with Lloyd apologizing for the hoax, the online world wasn’t forgiving.
“almost cried i was so happy when i saw this... not a cool move fod ... not cool at all,” wrote Nick Dante.
Beth Agnew wrote, “100 lashings with a wet noodle for this one guys! Why would you want to play with my emotions like that huh? (going to sob in a corner).”
Hawk offered a behind-the-scenes production video to show how the stunt was done with wires.
“A lot of people believed it and I wanted to believe it as much as you did, but to me it was just a fun opportunity to ride in the DeLorean with Doc and to actually ride on the stunt harness that they use in Back to the Future II,” Hawk said in the “set it straight” video.
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