The Banned Commercial That Caused Mass Hysteria

[@ScareTheater]

The discord server is now officially available on Patreon.

[@SalveASMR]

Pin :)

[@5milemacc737]

boooooooo

[@epicname2830]

Ok

[@AVI-lh6rm]

i wish i could become a patron but i got no moners lol

[@scriggle3564]

​@@5milemacc737 what's wrong with that

[@BreadBoys]

Imagine being the director of this, thinking you're just making an innocent commercial about a train, and then over the course of the next few years, people misinterpret your work and call your work the literal catalyst of evil that should be banished from society. Even though you did nothing wrong, your entire reputation is now in shambles.

[@MartianManHunter2258]

Has your son been reading any heresy lately?

[@mettycandy]

Holy shit its the bread boys

[@michaela.754]

And on the other hand imagine being the creative director of an ad where a kid holds a teddy bear in bdsm gear, and have people defending you on twitter.

[@Kirkw00d]

hi bread man. i hope your shotgun is still loaded. this isn't a threat!

[@theonlyMoancore]

@@michaela.754 Ayo?

[@sandraweilbrenner67]

There are six kids , the girl with pigtails just changed to the back for a while . A continuity error that is all.

[@Metal_Horror]

Um. You can see two girls with pigtails (at least two - pretty sure I'm seeing three) at the same time when the girl in the back appears on screen, and the order of the rest of the kids is exactly the same. Nice try, but no.

[@GoGoGoRunRunRun]

​@@Metal_HorrorSo? They had 20 kids there when they filmed the commercial. You are familiar with video cutting and editing?

[@EraserHead_Fire_Walk_With_Me]

I just saw a child eyes bleeding in the commercial

[@VOlDNOVA]

Humans minds are haunted, they see creepy patterns everywhere really

[@coolboyyo654]

i love that the ad itself wasnt really that bad until someone decided to go on a radio show and start shit

[@cryamistellimek9184]

The fact people believed and fed into this when it sounds like a shitty early days creepypasta is depressing.

[@snoot6629]

@@cryamistellimek9184 cant blame em , their country is in political shambles to begin with - so ofc the adults are stressed asf

[@NYUMIR]

Haha

[@KingRandor82]

I have a feeling there was more to that call than just some whackjob with no life ...

[@Snapper314]

I was over in Hong Kong a year or 2 before this happened. Considering the feelings of dread and apprehension about the looming takeover by China, I can totally understand how this snowballed it what it became.

[@Ar_sole_hair_fiddler]

This is the most "my friend's, mother's, half brother's, uncle's, ex wife's, chiropractor's, boss', accountant saw something creepy on a 15 second advertisement so I'm warning any young vulnerable children not to watch TV and lock your windows and door to your bedroom or else" thing ever.

[@paul_particularlyunhappynut]

you see, i knew this guy who knew this who knew guy, who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy, who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy's COUSIN, that there was indeed 100% fact, was hyper realistic blood and then the director took the kids and made an 8 hour snuff film. hide your kids, hide your wife.

[@average_psyop_enjoyer]

Exactly they’re just re Todd ed

[@blackman5867]

wat

[@pierreo33]

@@blackman5867 it's ok that you don't understand

[@blackman5867]

@@pierreo33 is it okay to speak chinese?

[@popculturedata]

Interesting how a child that didn't appear in a scene of an ad caused mass hysteria and caused it to banned.

[@phillipfry6094]

Just another media related thing China banned

[@DigitalLobstershow]

it cuase mass hysteria because the kids were from mainland china in stead of hongkong, just hidden racism.

[@andreweleanor4861]

Gaslighting moment

[@hypnotised-clover]

be*

[@ClausMichaelFasting]

Its not just the ghost that made mass hysteria, but it was also the use of chinese kids, as opposed to kids from Hong Kong.

[@12DAMDO]

"did you see this program yourself?" "no, my friend told me about it" lmfao

[@nafizhossain568]

why not the director made another video with the kids showing they are all healthy and live. also their interview could change everything

[@12DAMDO]

@@nafizhossain568 i think you meant to reply to a different comment

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

@@nafizhossain568 By the time any that could have reasonably been done, the rumors had already passed.

[@yansiii7994]

I mean, it’s Hong Kong 😭.I live in Hong Kong and could confirm that the aunties in wet market does that, spreading things that their friend told them around

[@tilted_axis9819]

It’s amazing how something as simple as a continuity error in media can complete change the way people perceive something. Wild theory crafting of a deeper message, hidden messages or even foul play.

[@angrybidoof847]

Is it that bizarre. So many people were convinced that a parallel universe existed, and that they jumped between the two because of how they spelt Berenstein/ Berenstain

[@casper2694]

That's what happens when a culture is deeply rooted in superstitions

[@VS-kf5qw]

@@casper2694 too true honestly. Every time I think about how a 4chan joke re-triggered half the US population into a satanic panic, it just baffles me.

[@kitten-whisperer]

It's absolutely sickening how people act this way. Imagine how we evolved from where we did, made such strides in the growth of humanity and intelligence and yet, we still go into mass hysteria because "ohhhhh ghosts!!! Monsters and spirits!!!"

[@RipRLeeErmey]

​@@kitten-whisperer We literally made all of those strives and advanced _because_ we were scared of the ghosts monsters and demons. If humanity didn't have a proverbial fire under it's ass at all times, we wouldn't have done everything that we did.

[@TheNathanNS]

When you said about a "ghost appearing in a commercial", I got flashbacks to that car commercial with the zombie jumpscare lmao

[@ScanManDaMurka]

Oh nooo. That still haunts me anytime I see a aerial view of a winding road in any context.

[@dragonictus]

So wach warst du noch nie... K-Fee

[@manecronik]

Dude whats good love your vids

[@Roadent1241]

@@ScanManDaMurka Yeeep. I can be at a Blue Man Group show, see those opening first few seconds and it takes me right out of party mode.

[@heyymanniceshot]

Me too oof

[@SalveASMR]

Thank you! For keeping the Classic "Scare Theater" intro... it's so cozy and reminds me a lot of good memories.

[@beepboopboopbeep3]

Same here, that intro will always hold memories.

[@zynosgd9982]

reminds me of Dark5. Both intros are just ingrained in my childhood brain!

[@rewenemp]

Same

[@Driplexity]

Agreed

[@micho510900]

soo truee, i thought i was the only one with that feeling :D this music and intro is timeless, keep it!

[@shepherdbrooks7609]

This commercial was a missed opportunity to make a PSA about train safety IMO. Filming A line of kids playing by train tracks, and then having one of them disappear in the next shot as the line of kids go into the distance could be an interesting and subtle way to portray death as a result of dangerous playing near trains. Idk, just a thought I had.

[@armagreggen6681]

That’s honestly how I thought this commercial would turn out. I initially thought that’s what caused the hysteria.

[@willywompa9663]

thats fucking terrifying but clever

[@Chipswitch22]

I agree, they should have made a graphic commercial about how their trains kill children

[@jonathanngai5956]

I grew up in hk, rest assured train safety was a big thing and there were continuous forms of other safety ads. no opportunities were wasted :)

[@kingghidorah5271]

I mean wouldn't that cause even bigger of a reaction

[@LordAini]

As a kid, I had a subscription to a Supernatural themed magazine, and this was covered in one of the issues. Although it was just a couple of stills, it terrified me so much, that I avoided the whole issue afterwards. It is crazy how much a continuity error scared me.

[@men_del12]

​@Purgatory Maybe I doubtlessly think only some that reminded it as "pranks/ april fools/ jokes" while the rest take opportunity as equal to hot scandalous news to bring in more people (this even applies to other subjects as long as these medias though not every media, only thought of getting attraction). I'd be glad if it's short live but maybe it takes time to even debunked the few circular myths that survived til now.

[@Thomas-ex6tp]

As a fan from Hong Kong, I did not expect you to cover this commercial at all 😂. This commercial was infamous back in the days, and I’d say you covered it pretty well! This is a bit long, but there was another creepy commercial in Hong Kong that I think is very intriguing to cover. A short ad was made by “Lucky Advertising Company” (蘋果廣告製作公司), but the ad only consists of a 5 second firework footage and the name of the company only. No other information were shown, and nobody had known anything about the company. The creepiest thing is, the commercial only aired a few times on TV, and every time the ad aired, some big event will happen in Hong Kong a few months later (virus outbreak in 2003, protest in 2019, COVID in late 2019). Till this day no one knows anything about the ad, and it became another interesting rabbit hole to delve into.

[@inferno7997]

Is there a footage of the ad in youtube? Can you share me?

[@Thomas-ex6tp]

@@inferno7997 it’s a really really short ad that is barely special on its own. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oYfZkIRsisd_irM

[@bloke1348]

This sounds really interesting

[@Thomas-ex6tp]

@@inferno7997 oh sorry I missed your reply🤦🏻‍♂️ This is the ad, but without context it seems relatively normal: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3TEaqKHp9Njg8ksi=KwcRd7ZomXIpEbiK

[@totallyrealcia]

This reminds me of that Kleenex commercial. Those rumors are fake as shit but I still can't watch that commercial late at night, it's legitimately so freaky

[@Xx_Oleander_xX]

What Kleenex commercial do you have a link?

[@TheLakabanzaichrg]

Cursed kleenex oni commercial Is here on youtube

[@altdefcon]

@@Xx_Oleander_xX search up japanese kleenex commercial, literally gives me the chills

[@Xx_Oleander_xX]

@@altdefcon I found it, it's seems more funny than creepy to me. Demon baby's am I right?

[@witheeeeeerx]

Moral of the story is, don't let Japanese create horror things lol

[@DuranMK2]

2:50 If you look at the bottom left frame, there's a girl with her hair in a pigtail only on the right side, with a band of white beads around it. 1:59 Same band of white beads on the pigtail of the 'ghost kid'. So, yeah, just a continuity error with the order of the kids in the line getting mixed up.

[@brickshithouse8780]

Fr, the bowtie, the little pigtail and the outfit is LITERALLY HERS!

[@AltClev37]

Man, some people had way too much time with this harmless train commercial.

[@KingRandor82]

Actually there IS an implication in the video regarding the train thing, but....

[@febrieze]

​@@KingRandor82i love how you elaborated on this topic

[@jricks3909]

It's unintentionally comical how this commercial became the focus of all that tension and anxiety over something much larger. Good thing everything calmed down in Hong Kong and there hasn't been any trouble there since.

[@TheAntiDisneyGod]

@@KingRandor82but what? Go on finish your statement

[@KingRandor82]

@@TheAntiDisneyGod you'll understand soon enough, over the next few months. Let's just say it involves names like Epstein and Puff Daddy, and leave it at that...and it's far more common in the industry than most realize. Yes, a suddenly disappearing kid DOES have questionable ramifications in that context

[@ZeroNeedsCoffee]

Dude I haven't watched scare theater since he used to debunk creepy pastas and just randomly got this video in my recommendations. Huggeeee step in quality he came such a long way lol

[@undead_omen4322]

Nah fr ive been watching him pretty consistently for a good 3-4 years now and the quality has went up quite gradually, bro puts a ridiculous amount of effort into his vids which is rare nowadays

[@Original-Phantom]

Why u got so many subs?

[@ix2301]

@@Original-Phantom probably bought the acc

[@teddyjer]

Ooh, the Philippines has a version. There was an ad for a milk powder product and there was a girl who was seen on the screen dancing with some family members and her back was turned away from the camera. However, when the families from the commercial gathered together, the girl was the only one who wasn't present.

[@chrisdawson1776]

Who asked?

[@handledeeznutslmfao]

​@@chrisdawson1776 Me, I asked.

[@shizune_]

​@@chrisdawson1776i did, now let them speak.

[@CitricZaelon]

Tell me more

[@erinpilla]

I'm from PH. I don't recall this?

[@l.d.cfilms4363]

I still remember you covering that one supposedly cursed tissue commercial. Freakiest stuff ever in like 2015 😭

[@eeelorde9962]

Lmaoooo cursed tissue commercial let me guesse if you watch it you will not stop jerking off forever 👻😱

[@sejcai]

fr, but even knowing there’s absolutely nothing cursed about it that commercial still creeps me out 😭

[@jamesedwardladislazerrudo1378]

It's fake

[@Jackhanmma7099]

​@@jamesedwardladislazerrudo1378 yeah still creepy

[@isaacgary6801]

Its gonna be a fine day today...its gonna be a fi

[@Ceruendiir]

Damn ScareTheater l, we didn't know what we had until it was gone. I still go back and binge your old content that I've seen so many times over. Such an awesome vibe. Glad to have you back making content!

[@ScareTheater]

Thank you!

[@dustyyshellz1320]

@@ScareTheater homunculous

[@EonityLuna]

Great to see an English-language channel finally covering this. I have heard of this ages ago but I wasn’t able to find many English-language resources on it; I did find a few Chinese-Cantonese pieces about it, and even then there wasn’t much on that front, plus I don’t speak Cantonese. I’m Chinese, but Cantonese isn’t my forte - I speak mostly Mandarin with a bit of Hokkien, and if you know anything about Chinese dialects you will know that these two Chinese dialects are quite different from Cantonese - even their written forms can be different enough to make comprehension somewhat difficult even if it’s all in Chinese characters. On a bit of a tangent, KCRC, the railway company that made this ad, doesn’t really operate trains anymore - many years ago they basically merged with the metro company MTR. The ex-KCR lines - the East Rail Line and the Tuen Ma Line (which itself was previously two lines, the West Rail and Ma On Shan Lines), as well as the Light Rail in the New Territories area, are now all operated by MTR. KCRC does still exist, but only as a holding company; they own the lines, which is then leased to MTR as its operating concessionaire.

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

It's kind of weird because English is pretty widely known in Hong Kong. I mean the ad is in English after all.

[@tylerwhite9564]

Kissvoices sounds like she came straight out of a late 90s anime. I love it.

[@chrisdawson1776]

🤡

[@Treeeee2008]

This whole event reminds me of the BoJack Horseman episode "Free churro", in which Bojack talks about how one time a fan of his show "Horsin' around" spotted a continuity error where a coffee cup was present on the table in one shot but it wasn't in the other, finding a deeper meaning to this mistake even though it was just that, a mistake. This innocent commercial started a massive controversy just because one shot wasn't consistent with another.

[@chrisdawson1776]

Isn't that the "Normal words…. But a horse guy!!" show?

[@expendableindigo9639]

​@@chrisdawson1776 It has an overarching tragedy storyline to it though. Also, what are non-normal words? :p

[@deborahhenderson149]

@@chrisdawson1776 your comment makes zero sense to me. Quit horsin' around.

[@remc0s]

This also happens with movies. KZbinrs making videos explaining supposed deeper meanings of the color of the wallpaper, something a character said, a picture on the wall, the color of the drink the main character was drinking, the number of flowers in the vase, etc. It's as if people just want to appear smart about stuff that has no deeper meaning at all. Really annoying.

[@mrpickles-hb6zx]

Anyone named Dawson gets 0 respect from me.

[@GeneSavage]

When you started the video, I thought, "oh, yeah... I know this story." Quickly, though, you perfectly explained what really happened, and how the rumors created hysteria. You gave me a much clearer understanding of what really happened. Thanks for really digging in and getting us the answers!!

[@littlemissoyashirou]

The discussion of the hysteria reminds me of the Forest Clown hysteria at the tail end of 2016 leading right to the election. Like that same level of tension building up in the public only to come out at a bizarre panic over a slightly creepy situation (an awkward commercial, a news report of some kids doing a prank) that expands into a wide-spread belief that something truly nightmarish is happening

[@calvinouellette4545]

Thought it was publicity for a new movie coming out? I’m pretty sure some genuine creeps took advantage of the situation and dressed as clowns and stalked people just for fun, under the guise of anonymity because it was so widespread at the time. But not a calculated, planned effort. Just some weirdos here and there conveniently taking advantage of a situation

[@deborahhenderson149]

@@calvinouellette4545 There was a murderer who dressed as a clown. He ended a lot of men and boys lives. He was a despicable human.

[@SilverHusky]

​@@deborahhenderson149 are you talking about John Wayne Gacy? The only connection between him and the 2016 "pranks" is the horror associated with clowns. I don't recall any clown murders reported in those sightings.

[@trianglemoebius]

@@SilverHusky There were absolutely reports of some of the clowns running at people with knives, brandishing weapons, etc. Although it's admittedly not clear if these reports were true, or even if they were if the clowns intended actual harm or were just people trying to be creepy and going to far, the point stands. Still nothing to do with Gacy tho, you're right.

[@The1andonlyAbber]

There was at least one KZbinr (I forget who) who claimed they were getting stalked by a clown during that time, but they could’ve been making it up for views.

[@st.anselmsfire3547]

Let that be a lesson to editors: in the age of the internet, every minor continuity error or prop left on set *will* result in an online freakout that might even transfer to the whole country.

[@scrung]

the event in this video happened in the 90s, where very few were internet users and social media as we know it did not exist

[@brandonbroukhim9286]

14:19 hey that’s me! Means a lot to me to be featured in a ScareTheater episode, thanks!

[@limbobilbo8743]

Big props to that DJ for basically going “uh huh yeah totally” to people just spreading misinfo

[@griefingg0lem685]

Yeah, including with him literally the later on telling people to not spread false info, a real one.

[@lordmegatron488]

Scaretheater is one of the greatest youtubers of his genre for staying so consistent over the years

[@AmitRamkissoon]

Mr Ballen is the best. PERIOD!!!!

[@AcaciaIris]

@@AmitRamkissoon no

[@some-guy-in-the-internet]

​@@AmitRamkissoon Mr. Ballen's narration is really good, but he doesn't do half as much research as Nexpo / ScareTheater for these types of videos. He (Mr. Ballen) even twists the narrative or overexaggerates events sometimes and people still eat it up because of how good his storytelling is. I'd say they're all good in their own way.

[@definitelynotsynchro.]

​@@some-guy-in-the-internet factsss

[@kami_narisama]

I live to serve you, Lord Megatron

[@ctrl_8650]

Hey just wanted to say thanks for the content, ive been watching for the past couple years and even waited for your return. Anyways glad your back and also i was also lucky enough to meet bob hickman at a kroger and even got to see his schizomobile. Much love 💜

[@NeatoUnused]

Love your videos. This one reminds me of a particular commercial I saw during the early evening (after a football game) that particularly scared me. It featured a sort of ritualistic chanting that haunted me and left me sleepless that night. The use of repeated words and rhythmic chants terrified me, especially considering what the commercial was about: it was an ad for Burger King's "Whopper" meal.

[@stonerdoomclown]

whopper whopperr whopper whopper

[@jaylong4705]

Next time hit the whopper button!

[@oxitape1563]

I rule this day

[@PrincessHellkat]

Have you ever seen the video of the “Hamburger Cheeseburger Big Mac Whopper” throat singing guy?

[@A_Random_Guy5647]

@@stonerdoomclown stop it Patrick your scaring him!

[@lychenthrope]

Yin and Yang are very serious spiritual forces in the cultural context of both China and Hong Kong. "Yin" is the dark energy in things, like negative emotional responses, pain, etc. In the context of the paragraph, Yin is used to refer to the hysteria itself, and the ghosts/spirits are referring to their anxieties. The anxiety in the hearts of the Hong Kong people is amplified due to the rumors, which in turn causes more anxiety, and snowballs finally into a massive concentration of Yin - hysteria.

[@Salena905]

It's both ridiculous and terrifying how all it takes is one person to start a horrible lie like this and make it spread , especially to this level. I feel sorry for those poor beautiful kids that took part in the ad as they were just innocently playing a game and had no idea what was about to happen. 🥺

[@SamuelBlack84]

To me, it's an example of the fears of the people themselves that project onto it and see what they want to see

[@Monicalia]

It also shows that people will never change. It takes one bored individual to say something weird and it's followed by thousands of gullible people believing it without needing ANY solid proof, more bored or delusional people adding even more misinformation, even after the rumor is long debunked.

[@DJ_Narcan]

Yeah it's crazy the government executed them

[@EngineTheRobot]

the biggest thing i've taken home from this whole video (fantastic work, btw!) is that Chinese translated into English has to be some of the most RAW dialogue on the planet. you are right in saying it sounds like anime dialogue!

[@0mnis1ash]

After playing through Silent Hill 2 recently, all that music you've been using hits different. Always was and always will be a treat hearing them in your videos.

[@THEhelloinsanity]

Haha!! Theme of Laura (Reprise) supremacy !

[@akemitsukino]

I have fond memories of watching my big brother play OG silent hill. The sound design is SO. GOOD. They worked so well with the tech they had at the time, I feel like it aged way better than most PS1 titles.

[@0mnis1ash]

@@akemitsukino Akira Yamaoka really is a musical genius. Incredible how the games have both the most chill and most horrifying tracks ever. Not to mention the ending songs. Overdose Delusion goes so hard.

[@someoneout-there2165]

How did those people calling into the radio station cause all this to start when their main claim was blood on the face that you can tell obviously isn't there? 😳

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

Modern scientific thinking is a Western invention so it's penetrated the culture most deeply in those countries. Outside the West science is just a thin veneer over a lot of "premodern" ways of looking at the world. It may also be that the entire concept of a strong invidual identity is also a Western creation. It seems that in some places where it's not rooted as in deeply in the culture people tend to be more easily influenced by others and especially panicky to Western eyes. Westerners were the same way prior to the last few centuries. In medieval Europe God forbid you be a stranger walking through an area when thunderstorm hit. Locals would be liable to accuse you of being a sky person who caused the storm to damage and steal their crops and then murder you in retaliation.

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

@@Matt_History You don't understand how both of the things I mentioned can lead people (and a large number of people) into imagining things that don't exist? Are you being obtuse on purpose or something?

[@QuikVidGuy]

@@BiggieTrismegistus Yeah, no. "Western" countries were far behind south asia and the middle east in terms of adapting to science. Ever heard of the Islamic Golden Age?

[@TaLeng2023]

​@@QuikVidGuywhy are those regions still far more superstitious than the West is these days? Surely they would have science'd all the supernatural superstition by now with their centuries of headstart.

[@DJ_Narcan]

The blood is there. Did you watch the commercial?

[@Mungomongo]

Honestly it’s kind of infuriating, all because people wanted to make up lies, this company had to take their commercial down.

[@kellidinit3725]

Well, same concept as Fox “news” here in the states.

[@poppythedogofwonders]

Eh, I find it funny, it's just a commercial no real harm done, it's just funny making up wild rumours about little stuff like that.

[@voidstrider801]

@@kellidinit3725 Fox, CNN, MSNBC. All of them are equally full of shit and more concerned with spinning their narratives or outright lying than with just presenting facts as they are and letting people form their own opinions from there. The US is heavily divided thanks to scum like those networks fermenting extremism and pushing people further from the centre on both sides. It's a sad state of affairs to witness.

[@mrpickles-hb6zx]

It's infuriating that men try to get into women's bathrooms 😐

[@shaunelliott8583]

In fairness, the ad failed

[@CaringScared]

12:52 it’s so funny you say this whole thing seems like something from an Anime! I was wondering if this is what helped inspire the anime Paranoia Agent, which is all about how the media caused such panic over a criminal that *spoilers* did not even exist at the beginning of the media frenzy around him. By the end he is a literal spirit, fueled by the anxiety and paranoia of the citizens.

[@randomtinypotatocried]

I guess I have another anime series to check out once my semester is over

[@KvisTwig]

YEAAA PARANOIA AGENT!!!

[@spookyanalyst9432]

Yea...Ive seen that animie cartoon. It was wild and very weird.

[@fauna5328]

I watched that show over 15 years ago and I never figured out how to actually put it into words 😅

[@teaboy301]

As someone who has severe anxiety, it's still crazy to me how much it can affect the way you view things. And the fact that a tiny rumor that was probably humorous spread to be so large and damaging is crazy too.

[@misseselise3864]

asia is also an extremely superstitious continent

[@sendthis9480]

There’s a “stop smoking” commercial where a guy quits, but basically forgets how to live. Like…he brushed his teeth with a shoe or something. And I think he wore his pants on his head, and had no clue what he was supposed to be doing. I think the premise was “quitting can be confusing”…or something un-profound. I’ve always compared anxiety to that commercial…mixed with some sort of emotion, regardless if it’s positive or negative.

[@ConservativesAreNgers]

The commercial is an allegory of china buying hongkong alongside with other independent chinese states

[@perofan1424]

As the great Patrick Star once said, "Take it easy. It's just a commercial."

[@InvertMouseGames]

Happy to see this covered! My mum bought a magazine with this ad on the cover when we were kids (during the hysteria). I was so scared I asked her to make sure the front cover is always facing the wall, and even then, as I did my homework, I kept glancing at that back cover in the corner, terrified of the content that awaited inside . It's so weird to think why adults from the 90s couldn't grasp the concept of ads having multiple takes and immediately being able to write this one off 😅. Before the ad being pulled, I remember the TV channels announced on day x (it was a weekend I think) at hour y, the commercial will be shown one last time. My parents watched it, but I was so scared I hid in the kitchen. Throughout the decade after that, whenever we re-watched old VHS tapes, I would get anxious the ad would show up. I re-watched this ad 20 or so years later when KZbin became a thing. The first time I re-watched it, the childhood trauma was so strong I still shuddered as a 20 something year adult. You quickly get numb to it though of course.

[@terrenceswiff]

Reminds me of the UK and their "true scary broadcast" that freaked out the whole country but hell, at least that was TRYING to be scary

[@twinkpeaks9993]

I’m from the UK, which one are you talking about?

[@tempestzeta11]

@@twinkpeaks9993 I’m pretty sure it was called GhostWatch

[@craigwilson6429]

@@tempestzeta11 I remember I watched ghost watch a few months back and I didn’t find it scary at all, despite everything I seen online saying that it was absolutely terrifying . Also I usually get scared very easily

[@khublaklonk4480]

I watched Ghostwatch at the time, and it was just a cheesy Halloween ghost story. Fairly well done, somewhat predictable storyline. A few pearl-clutchers wrote in to the papers saying their innocent young kids (who shouldn't have been watching) got scared. The whole thing was a storm in a teacup, but honestly not that much of a storm. In the years since, the whole thing has been steadily inflated by successive retellings.

[@chrisdawson1776]

@@khublaklonk4480Pearl clutchers? The show caused a suicide

[@casper2694]

I honestly think it was less of the China takeover that caused the anxiety and hysteria and more so that Hong Kong culture is deeply rooted in superstitions and the supernatural, so it's no wonder they believed this was some kind of The Ring cursed film situation, and the rumors only added fuel to the fire.

[@Lyulff]

Continuity error goes way out of hand 💀

[@azalago]

This is the first time I've heard of an ad being banned for being "evil" and having "too much yin energy."

[@TowerofTeacups]

Welcome back Scare Theater!!!! I'm glad you kept your intro:) a ton of happy memories flooded back! Ice missed your narration ❤

[@ScareTheater]

Thank you!! 😁

[@FirecrackerTNT]

I really love the more in-depth videos like this, not just presenting what happened, but why, and to what extent. Great job and I hope to see more videos like this!!

[@monikaradzaj7407]

I've been watching you since I was in elementary school and now I'm in my final year of college. It's awesome to see how much you and your channel have grown! Keep up the great work man!

[@stargrazerhorse4248]

I suspect the blood may have been the color settings on the TV being off. The redder color on the TV could have made the shadows on the faces look like what they thought was blood. The old 90s TV would get like this with the color at times and you'd have to adjust it.

[@npcimknot958]

possibleoh like colourburn of the screeb

[@lilbigdudegamering8463]

That animation was terrifying

[@ScareTheater]

Lmao

[@papafrita3645]

It is lol. Oddly appropiate.

[@backwardsbandit8094]

Scarier than the commercial, thats for sure. We should start an internet wide panic inducing rumour or two about it

[@gunbuster718]

Knew this topic from the thumbnail alone. This was aired when I was in first or second grade in HK. I remembered the wild tall tales that us kids BS to one another. The second to last kid grew into a giant, the third kid's whole family died! And then it was a top new cover on some tabloid magazine. It was big. Every now and then people within my age would bring this up again.

[@pandahsykes602]

When stories are sensationalized and talked about , you know the government and media of the country is up to no good .

[@xanatanuwu]

WTF does this even mean?Least schizophrenic American

[@serious643]

it's so nice hearing myuu's music still being played in your vids to this day. it's really nostalgic hearing it lol

[@Jay-pm8jx]

I’m gonna be honest I really appreciate the more physical interaction with the audience in the recent videos

[@twinkpeaks9993]

I’ve seen so many KZbinrs cover this advert and the rumours around it, but never the hysteria and panic that it caused. This is extremely interesting

[@droopyjaguar]

Love the consistent uploads man, been watching you since the creepy pasta days. Keep up the good work man 😀👍

[@ScareTheater]

Glad you like them!

[@Splatterbrain7]

Even after all these years your thumbnails are still my favorite to see in my sub box.

[@bakawaki]

Interesting how a completely mundane ad is the straw the breaks the camel's back and exposes the deep problems between China and Hong Kong.

[@grandtheftruben914]

Bet you’re a McCarthyist saying Shit towards the Proletariat such as. “Life Under British Colonialism is Good. Just like Lebensraum & the Manifest Destiny.” A reminder that anti-communism is supporting fascism & Western Poison

[@DjDeadpig]

Whenever I see the scaretheater intro, it brings me back to the good old days of “creepypasta debunked”, “Casey’s Cave” and “top 10 realistic creepypastas”. Thanks for uploading for all these years man, you were my childhood and introduction to this community on KZbin,

[@ScareTheater]

Aww, thank you for sticking around all these years. I really appreciate it.

[@keatonwastaken]

The creepypasta days were something special, lot of creative writing was expressed among our generation of young people. I wonder if similar things will resurge in the near future.

[@xadxtya]

DUDEE SAME

[@DjDeadpig]

@@ScareTheater thanks man, shame Casey’s Cave is gone since the videos on the internet archive say they’re private. But those videos are still nostalgic to me in my heart, plus there’s a filmot transcript of the show, so it’s not completely lost media.

[@beepboopboopbeep3]

Out of all the horror channels on KZbin, ScareTheater will always be my 1# favorite. So much nostalgia

[@roundabout468]

This is why you're the best. I've heard about this commercial thousands of times but never seen someone go so in-depth about it.

[@PurpleMoon799]

missed you scare so good to see you uploading now! :)

[@JamieJai]

WOOOOO!!! this was TOP in my feed!!! like very top of the screen!! welcome fn back!!!🥂🍾

[@SakuraAsranArt]

This is such an amazing example of the evolution of an urban legend and myths and legends in general. The most interesting thing is that the entire development of this legend has been so well documented.

[@SteelViko]

Super cool how you revisited this commercial. Love the much more indepth analysis on it as well!

[@Ropetupa]

This is kinda like the start of a finnish true crime program, it had kids playing on a beach. Pretty normal, but that effin' music that they played on the background, made it really freaky. Program is called "Ei vanhene koskaan" if someone is curious enough to want to listen it.

[@creekwoodproductions7478]

These videos are so timeless and binge worthy, I will never stop loving them

[@martinvannostrand8488]

Are you sure that the Fiverr acting is going to prove to be timeless?

[@lauracook8203]

This kind of reminds me of an urban legend in the late 70s that revolved around a hit pop song called "roller coaster of love". There is a portion of the song that allegedly inserted an audio recording of people laughing and gleefully screaming while riding an actual roller coaster. There was one particular scream that sounded more terrified than fun and soon people started spreading the rumor that a rider actually fell to his death and his screams were captured in the audio. It made the rounds but was soon debunked and faded away.

[@mommy2libras]

The Orson Welles effect. People like to assign drama that doesn't exist to normal, everyday things. It still happens all the time. And if they can somehow insert themselves into that drama, especially to become influenced or a victim, then it's even better.

[@mikhailiagacesa3406]

beat me to it. damn.

[@ladyhammer]

Continuity errors are scary

[@gl1tchygreml1n]

I love how timeless your videos are and how you've kept that intro, it's perfect and nostalgic ^^

[@afact0flife]

glad to see ur uploading more! as dark and creepy as ur content can be, it's been a huge comfort of mine for a long time now. love ur channel and ur doing great

[@kitvar2685]

I love these alleged haunted media stories, makes me very nostalgic for 90s and early 00s Asian horror themes. Interesting that Koji Suzuki's "Ring" novel released in 1991, a year or so prior to this commercial. Given its popularity, perhaps the story of Ring was fresh in the minds of readers across Asia and quickly made its way to Hong Kong. It may have consciously or subconsciously inspired the notion of an evil commercial (a la cursed videotape). At least that's my purely speculative theory!

[@diddykong2143]

The people who saw blood on their faces should stop doing meth.

[@zomppp]

I really love your videos ScareTheater! It started off from me watching your videos from my elder brothers phone at my Grandparents house and now I've watched so many of your great videos! Love your videos keep up the good work ScareThearer! 👍

[@keatonwastaken]

It feels good to see consistent ScareTheater uploads, every video is worth watching.

[@svelter3504]

ikr im glad hes back too

[@efe_aydal]

I missed this intro. Thanks for the upload brother.

[@AVI-lh6rm]

Hey ScareTheater, I really love your videos. I hope soon you could maybe do a video on Japanese urban legends! They're absolutely fascinating, a nice window into the culture of an entirely different country, and they're also just TERRIFYING.

[@fz7091]

Another great video, I've been watching you since I was a kid, I remember recommending you to my primary school friend. Rock on man.

[@oppakunn328]

I don't know why but this reminds me of the whole "black ambulance" rumor that was going on in Romania in around 2010's which somehow caused everyone to freak out

[@gageiannitelli6994]

that girls voice actor made that section unbearable for me to watch, not to say she isnt a good voice actor, but for it being such an over the top dub of what was surely not such an enthusiastic phone call gave me second hand embarrassment

[@AlbertMonkey]

Sounds as annoying as the TikTok girls voice

[@shroomyk]

There are some people who see freaky stuff in many videos that just aren't there. So many videos can be easily explained by things like digital film artefacts or broadcast delay, or like in this case a continuity error. Yet some people live in a terrifying world where all of those things lead to conspiracy and mysterious forces. They must be scared constantly by everyday life. I appreciate that Scare Theater always brings the facts.

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

Both scientific thinking and the concept of a strong individual identity are new phenomena historically speaking. Some places and people are a lot less skeptical about this kind of stuff and are more easily influenced by others.

[@fluffybum204]

I am constantly scared It's called schizophrenia and severe anxiety disorder 😎 (No seriously it fucking sucks to be scared to get out of bed because you think you saw a hand reaching out from under it or you're just scared you may slip and fall and break your neck)

[@shroomyk]

@@fluffybum204 I am really sorry you have to deal with that. I know schizophrenia is a terrifying disease for those who have it. I hope someday we can have better treatments for it. Hang in there.

[@fluffybum204]

@@shroomyk thankfully I don't have it too bad as for me it's just unnecessary paranoia, auditory hallucinations, hallucinations in my peripheral vision, and voices in my head but y'know, I can at least function unlike some people who have it worse

[@leslieschott754]

Peoples ignorance, superstitions, & inability to think for themselves…..history of mankind since the beginning of mankind!

[@UnityTrap]

I thought you made a video on this already? I have to be imagining another KZbinr. Glad you used the classic ScareTheater music.

[@beepboopboopbeep3]

He talked about it a few years ago, but this a much more in depth analysis of the ad.

[@AinaIzzah]

Holy crap, I literally have goosebumps because you just unlocked a memory! I remember this rumour in the early 2000s (I was still just a kid then and of course, the internet was still new). It was a widely popular conspiracy in Malaysia too especially in schools. Weirdly enough, it might just be my hazy memory or a case of the Mandela effect but I remember the last girl in the ad as having long hair instead of pigtails.

[@MsTinkerbelle87]

They probably just played different versions of the advert.

[@furthausen]

Reminds me of 3 men and a baby's ghost boy. Somehow the rumors started innocently then snowballed into craziness. The house was supposedly located along with the so called history of the place. When it was done in a studio and the boy was a cut out.

[@x0xmadix0x]

love your uploads, thanks for being so consistent throughout the years 💗

[@123wertyk]

I love this channel. Nothing is exaggerated for cheap spooks and the host seems like a fun guy (despite the nature of the content being covered)

[@mrjmlol]

I’ve completely forgotten about this channel lol, glad to see you uploading more!

[@BitterBatter]

It seems suuuuper likely to me that the radio show planned to have those callers call in as a little spooky Halloween event, and then when the rumor got out of hand they were like "Golly gee, who was this listener that called in that had the AUDACITY to cause such problems? >:( )

[@sebasalv2284]

We love you ScareTheater! I have been a fan since 2015. I hope everything is going great for you and again thanks for the great videos !

[@40088922]

the script supervisor probably never got hired to even film weddings after that, holy crap

[@coffeelink943]

or just overreacting lmfao. It’s literally just an AD with kids

[@kaeden109]

It's incredible the amount of effort you put into your videos, really good job.

[@littlegiantj8761]

I love the irony of the legend and the commercial itself Watching the ad alleviated stress a bit

[@psychotripnerdstuff]

As someone with a psych degree, this is such a fascinating story! I would definitely lvoe to read that research paper as well. It's such a good lesson in how fear and hysteria can take hold of people, even when divorced from any evidence.

[@Kernwadi]

Hey, ST. Are you going to make some videos in the future covering the so called "dark side of KZbin"? I'm sure that there still are some questionable channels out there that go under people's radar.

[@mikeclark8410]

yo man I've been watching you for a long time and watched your channels evolution, I'm happy for you and the face cam slaps!

[@flobwad]

Strange coincidence you mentioned the “Ghost” in the movie _Three Men and a Baby_ (the so-called “ghost” was actually just a cardboard movie prop accidentally left on the set) here - because I just recently had a conversation with someone who used to live in the apartment building that movie was filmed inside when she was a kid - The Prasada in NY. And no, the building has never been confirmed to be “Haunted”. There aren’t any reports of a young boy dying gruesomely in the apartment (either was murdered, committed suicide via shotgun - although both of us weirdly were told the ‘child’ died by falling out of the window ‘he’ was seen next to in the film.)

[@TheTimoprimo]

Scaretheater mentioned that in his older video about it.

[@uwuaxolotluwu3626]

Hey man, nice video. I'd seen this ad in creepy things lists before but never the history! I've been watching you since before you had 50k subs. Wanted to watch your 50k sub video, with the 50 photos a couple of years ago but it sadly gone.

[@samv.3217]

Moral of the story: Always check for continuity errors. You may just save your country.

[@shookjin1149]

This is a very interesting topic. I remember hearing about this commercial during my creepypasta phase back in middle school, but I had no idea about the huge cultural significance it had on Hong Kong. It’s interesting to me because I’m actually majoring in global studies with a concentration in East Asia, and I did a mini research project on how pop culture can affect the relationships between certain East Asian countries and vice versa. I mostly focused on K-pop, but if I decide to do more research on this topic, I’ll definitely include this story. Thanks for the great video, Scare!

[@weinberg8805]

The scariest part of this video is the bad quality harmonica