Because we live in the internet age and are such simple people who all take things at face value, we, in turn, are not allowed to have nice things. Ever.
Take, for example, the photo you see below that appears to be an amazingly timed image of the coin toss from the Oregon-Ohio State College Football Playoff Championship Game. One thing that can’t be disputed: It is a photo. Only problem is, if you look a little closer, and do some double checking with alternate angles of the coin flip from before the opening kickoff, you’ll notice that this was nothing but a staged photo.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
It all started thanks to ESPN the Mag Sr. Writer Don Van Natta Jr. blasting out this tweet of the photo shortly after the actual coin toss:
This isn't a photo. It's a miracle. #OREvsOSU pic.twitter.com/efbpgYMN38
— Don Van Natta Jr. (@DVNJr) January 13, 2015
Now, Don explicitly states that “This isn’t a photo,” and we all should’ve believed him. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Hell, even I fell victim to this latest internet hoax:
Awesome pic. RT "@DVNJr: This isn't a photo. It's a miracle. #OREvsOSU pic.twitter.com/c9yQcbgvtH”
— Rob Stott (@rlstott) January 13, 2015
So what’s the real story behind this awesomely timed/staged photo? As Deadspin pointed out not long after it went viral, it originally appeared on Nike’s Twitter feed as an advertisement right as kickoff was happening.
This isn't do-or-die. It's do or don't. You have to live with it or live without it. #justdoit pic.twitter.com/EbnRzUWYOD
— Nike (@Nike) January 13, 2015
The timing was great on Nike’s part. But what’s really troublesome is the fact that the retweeted photo by Van Natta appears to have been altered so as to not give away that it was lifted from an advertisement. Notice the Nike swoosh located in the top right corner of the photo in Nike’s tweet. That logo is not on any of the photos in the other tweets above, and appears to be ever-so-slightly cropped down. The retweet was highly deceiving on Van Natta’s part for seemingly no reason whatsoever.
And, just for comparison’s sake—in case the fact that there are no other signs of life around the players isn’t enough—here’s a look at the real spider cam image from the coin flip, via Tony Gutierrez of the AP (notice that the players’ numbers don’t even come close to matching):
Thanks, internet, for ruining any fun that we try to have.