# Ah, the old 'Elevator Malfunction' trick! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 23, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671 "2012-10-23T22:03:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671/1 "2012-10-23T22:03:44Z")
That’s the _second_ time I’ve fallen for it this week! [/MS] [LG pulls a prank in an elevator](http://www.complex.com/tech/2012/10/lg-pulls-an-elevator-prank-to-prove-the-lifelike-aspect-of-their-ips-monitor-video). . ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671/2 "2012-10-23T22:14:42Z")
Either those people were actors, or someone is getting sued. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671/3 "2012-10-23T22:18:42Z")
They sort of looked like actors, especially the women. I have to admit though the graphic effect was pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![Uber\_the\_Goober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/58956e/32.png) [@Uber\_the\_Goober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uber_the_Goober)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671/4 "2012-10-23T22:18:51Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Either those people were actors, or someone is getting sued. ? … ? How do you figure? ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671/5 "2012-10-23T23:05:22Z")
I was amazed how most of them jumped into the corner, and some who were holding onto the rail let go. I hope, were I in such a situation, for real, that I’d cling to a handhold. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671/6 "2012-10-23T23:13:34Z")
Clearly actors. This would have provoked profanity in real life. ---
**Author:** ![FlyByNight512](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/82dd89/32.png) [@FlyByNight512](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyByNight512)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671/7 "2012-10-23T23:42:22Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Clearly actors. This would have provoked profanity in real life. Word. Also, everyone looks a little too perfectly put together and camera-ready to be anything else. If I were going to punk people in an elevator to demonstrate the awesomeness of my screens, it’d probably involve dinosaurs. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671/8 "2012-10-24T01:35:40Z")
[Here](http://gizmodo.com/trompe-l.oeil/) it is, done “old school”. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671/9 "2012-10-24T02:36:47Z")
Some evidence that it’s a hoax - [http://screen.yahoo.com/lg-viral-elevator-ad-real-or-fake-30937825.html](http://screen.yahoo.com/lg-viral-elevator-ad-real-or-fake-30937825.html) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671/10 "2012-10-24T19:32:03Z")
You wouldn’t see the scene change angle on a monitor as you move. If you step to the side, it should look the same as when you are standing on top. So, yeah, they’re putting a couple of different angle shots on the monitors for the sake of making the commercial. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671/11 "2012-10-24T19:36:25Z")
Two of the guys look down before the floor even does anything. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671/12 "2012-10-24T19:54:34Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Two of the guys look down before the floor even does anything. There’s some indication that the elevator moves oddly and there’s sound before the tiles fall. If the sound is coming from the monitors, they’d certainly look down toward it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671/13 "2012-10-24T19:57:04Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > You wouldn’t see the scene change angle on a monitor as you move. If you step to the side, it should look the same as when you are standing on top. So, yeah, they’re putting a couple of different angle shots on the monitors for the sake of making the commercial. Yup - that’s the first thing I looked for. Also, they’d have to set the car to stop a few inches lower, or you’d trip over the screen assembly when entering. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671/14 "2012-10-24T20:29:39Z")
No rational company would do this with unsuspecting people off the street. Pure legal nightmare. Someone could have a heart attack, panic attack, lose bladder control, suffer nightmares or any number of consequences. One of the victims would end up with an elevator phobia, and with a job on the 20th floor would be unable to work. Lawsuit city. But companies do stupid things all the time. One possibility, is that they are actors who weren’t told much about what was going to happen. So releases were signed and such ahead of time. But that would have been waste of time. They’d have gone with straight acting shots instead. I strongly suspect the interior shots are of a mockup of the elevator. So no one getting “in” would have truly thought they were in an elevator. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671/15 "2012-10-24T21:46:46Z")
I don’t think this is real. But, assume that it is and look at what happened. People see out of the corner of their eye the floor drop away, jump briefly and then, one second later go “oh. Haha. It’s fake.” So how does this prove the lifelike aspects of their monitor any more than those “watch this room closely until the screaming woman jumps out” webpages proves the existence of ghosts? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-the-old-elevator-malfunction-trick/638671/16 "2012-10-25T00:23:30Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > So how does this prove the lifelike aspects of their monitor any more than those “watch this room closely until the screaming woman jumps out” webpages proves the existence of ghosts? The purpose of any viral campaign isn’t to prove anything. It’s to get people talking about the product. And if the existence of this thread is any indication, it worked.