Paddy Power cons planet into outrage with fake rainforest drama

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power has pulled the wool over the world's eyes yet again, as environmentally-aware folks all over the world were outraged by the sign they burned into the rainforest floor.

Only, well, they didn't. At all.

The giant sign supporting England's World Cup campaign - signed only "PP" - went viral overnight on Reddit and news sites, as many were clearly upset that a company would cut down trees for a simple message.

SURELY NOT? Paddy Power provoke fury with World Cup publicity stunt https://t.co/CxMvvck5Cc pic.twitter.com/abtNbRW6h8

— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) June 8, 2014

In a blog post today, however, the bookie revealed that it's "not Photoshop" but instead "a far more complex bit of computer wizardry."

"Many people thought Paddy had chopped down a load of trees. We can’t trust Paddy to put his pants on in the morning or eat a Sunday roast without getting gravy on his best shirt, God knows what he’d be like operating heavy machinery," Josh Powell wrote on the company blog.

.@paddypower irresponsible completely out of touch stupid brainless wankers. Shame on you.

— Dominic Monaghan. (@DomsWildThings) June 7, 2014

Instead of some simple photo manipulation, a team of artists spent three weeks working with 3D modelling tool MODO to create the landscape and paint 1.5 million trees.

Yep - that very convincing image is actually a completely fake 3D render. Impressive work. And, thanks to the fact that it was a computer model, they could take multiple shots from different angles - making the hoax more convincing.

Paddy Power, of course, got exactly what they wanted from the whole affair, with a Twitter storm and international media coverage everywhere from Yahoo to Buzzfeed.

And, in an attempt to raise awareness of the real problem of deforestation, they've launched a awareness campaign called "ShaveTheRainForest".

Wood you believe it? http://t.co/DxupnvU2Lf #SaveTheRainforest pic.twitter.com/UT3DA4igl4

— Paddy Power (@paddypower) June 8, 2014

Whether you agree with such tactics or not, like the company or not, their marketing department earn their pay cheques.