Video of the Day: Charity Mascot vs. NBC News Crew

Ah, dear "Lord of the Dance":

Michael Flatley is a white guy...from Long Island. And that dance style is Irish....that's white. Maybe you should look into some other form of dance.

Anyone who dances when people get hurt is pathetic. And anyone who decides to abuse someone else because of their skin color is a racist. And pathetic.

Gothamist really needs to introduce a "Flag" feature for space-hogging losers like you.

That said, the PA could have been more diplomatic. And NBC News - reporters working for the good of society? Or just a corporation that wants money? Discuss amongst yourselves.

Signed - H215

hmmm, such vile statements. piece of sh t, waste of oxygen, and SKIN. You can't kill us, we're already dead. Charlie Barron is our God.

all I did was the Lord of the Dance.

breaking news, a white long islander just punched a convienence store worker for now reason. OK, the reason was he called him a "terrorist"

Be on the lookout for a fat white guy.

i'm still here. dancing my Lord of the Dance

see me at Radio city.

This is why I dance my michael flatly best when a cop dies or a white trash union worker from a racist suburb gets mamed.

You're a piece of garbage, a waste of skin and oxygen. I hope you get killed tomorrow as you leave your house, you POS.

What'ts with all the racist comments in this thread? Is this the new online hang-out for BLA, Black Panthers, or Charles Barron, or maybe all of the above? Why doesn't Gothamist moderate any of this? What gives?

It was NOT a viral ad. That was a weird end of a really fun day. We were having fun. Stood behind a guy on camera. Big deal. Handed him a button. So what ? They were doing a fluff piece on the iphone. Someone got a little too angry. That is what happened. And we posted it on YouTube. Hungrr,LLC. is NOT a non profit organization, we are a blog and a company with a mission to spread awareness of the facts surrounding hunger in America. Read the About tab on our blog hungrr.com to find out more about what we are trying to do.

-Hungrr

According to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture Report,

35 million Americans suffer directly from hunger and food insecurity,

including nearly 14 million children.

Worldwide more than 850 million people are chronically hungry.

VOLUNTEER your time or DONATE food or money to your local Food Bank.

Do a little good. And feel goo

why making fun of P.A.'s???

and why all the racist comments???? and how come no one is calling out on the racists who posted here? you know, making racist comments towards whites is still racist.

The liberals in this city is slowly making me less liberal. i can't stand you people whine about nonissue like this incident. the guy was loitering!!!!! he was purposely trying to get into the shot. the news crew has a right to use loitering laws to get him moving.

and white people are not evil. what's with the racist jerks who posted here?

what are you guys freaking out about? i personally don't like when people free advertise in the backgorund of live feeds. not to mention many people pull stunts once the camera rolls. The crew has a duty to their sponsors and network to keep their footage clean. so they have the right to get the guy in the costume from loitering, since it was obvious he was standing around to get in the shot...that's loitering. obviously people can stand around on sidewalk (though technically they can always get a loitering charge), but when you stand around in front of a shot, purposely, when the camera crew has a permit to shoot there, then they can ask the guy to move. and they can even go as far to get the cops. hey, the msnbc dude is only doing his job.

However, the crew guy could have started by being nice.

there's enough charities, stop starting new ones. it's annoying, we could have one chairty for each thing and then it's fine, we don't need a million doing the same thing. you animals. and pins are stupid litter.

Hungrr is about hunger awareness.

Check out http://Hungrr.com and click the About tab.

Yes, we have day jobs. If one wishes to think this constitutes some shady conspiracy to force

tv guys to act like jerks, so be it.

To #25: Producer? Please don't give the asshole that much credit, he's probably no more than a lowly P.A, or at best, a second rate AC to be sure. If he actually get's to hold a camera (when not simply carrying one), you know his work is piss-poor.

Number 23 is right, it's all square.

Dick Ebersole is with NBC and his sweet youngest son Teddy who wouldn't hurt a fly was the only one who died in the plane crash, Now they are less one son.

The cop on the motorcycle was expecting his first child and died in a crash. Now his child has not father.

I'd say it's even, Karma always evens things out in the end.

Karma is the great equalizer. Believe it, my friends.

bullshit. that producer has absolutely no tact. there's ways to get around things when you are shooting, and this guy obviously has no idea how to deal with people.

it clearly says it is FOX next to the video you idiots!

Children, children.

Can't we all get along?

The tv crew was well with its bounds.

No fists were thrown.

The mascot was trying to get some free publicity.

And the police kept order.

Maybe the mascot had a couple gas canisters within the costume and was going to ignite himself on camera.

One can never be sure about adults in furry costumes, no?

all's fair though, Dick ebersole's youngest gone and

that cop hit by a minivan.

Karma sure is some kooky shiznit. that's why you don't mess with it.

So, #19, track it down and confirm to us that this is going into the bank account of the mascot. Then confirm if the camera crew knew the details about the nature of the charity and the intent of the mascot.

Then we will discuss if the behavior of the camera crew was acceptable.

Till then - they are goons and WNBC and the NYPD have an issue on their hands.

What's amatter?

Can't get into a union?

Still living off daddy's health benefits?

Go back to flipping burgers in Dubuque.

I guess some folks couldn't hack it with NBC.

Such hatred.

Children, in the end the boys with the big toys win.

FYI. They weren't filming. TV cameras haven't seen film in a generation.

"Shooting" is more like it.

Even "taping" doesn't apply in most cases any more.

#15 has the right idea. Just some jerk in a costume trying to get some viral publicity ... and I'll bet if you tried to track down this so-called "charity" you'll find the only "charity" is the web site's owner's bank account.

And the estate of Jim Henson should sue for the worst interpretaton of a Muppet, ever.

In response to Toby -- I highly doubt the goon guy who headed up the WNBC crew took the time to look up the background. (if it is true -- please link the info). In my opinion he was just being a first grade jerk. And fyi -- I doubt that the new NYC "rules" regarding filming will hold up in court. It's called the first amendment and people have a right to walk the public streets and express their views, take pictures and film jerk-like behavior.

Happy Fourth of July. Stand up for your rights. 231 years ago -- folks did it in a big way.

What the F are you talking about?

What commercial? What in Tarnation are you yapping about?

So, people are not going hungry? Guess that's why I see a long line when the Coalition for the homeless van rolls up at 5pm on Centre street.

I should also add they also may have been in violation of the law about filming in the city if they didn't have a permit for filming their commercial.

This is nothing more than a viral ad campaign.

Lets take a look at the players

Hungrr, LLC, which claims to be behind the hungrr.com website, a check of several charity reporting websites returns no records and the domain name seems to be a private registration. This raises some red flags as this Hungerr is not a charity and claims to be a LLC.

The "founder" of Hungerr, LLC is someone named Owen Plotkin, who is in the employ of a firm called the now corporation, which is (big shock here) an advertising firm where Mr. Plotkin has contributed such things to our culture as TV spots for body sprays, beer, and Ikea. You should also note the little Hungerr icon on their home page. It also appears (another big shock here) the firm is involved in viral marketing.

So this appears to be a calculated publicity stunt designed to get maximum attention. Also, the video appears to have been edited so we just have one side of the story, and one that has an agenda which is a viral marketing campaign. If they want television time, they can buy it, since they make ads I am sure they know who to talk with about getting some.

I guess karma did do it's job, dick ebersole is with NBC and he lost his youngest sweetest son Teddy who wouldn't hurt a fly.

karma does some wierd stuff, she sure can pick em.

Wow. NBC are some fucking assholes. I was at the Apple Store and saw the Big Orange Head. I did think it was a bit strange, even a bit annoying, but Big Orange Head was on a PUBLIC STREET. NBC was shooting on a PUBLIC STREET. ANYONE CAN STAND IN THE BACKGROUND ON A PUBLIC STREET. Fuck you NBC. This video made me so angry. What did that guy say "We have a live shoot to do!"? WHO CARES??? AWWWW, your live shoot is just SO important. NOT. FUCK YOU NBC, FUCK YOU!!!! Someone should have decked that fucking punk NBC crewmember with the ballcap. Total fucking ASSHOLES.

Re: WNBC - Not surprised as much as disappointed. Re: NYPD - nothing surprises me anymore. Re both - stooping to the level of thugs is evidence of desperate behavior. Both WNBC and the NYPD should be called on this and apologize. Until we push back - they will continue to up the anty and allow the goons to rule the day.

NBC is owned by General Electric and is a huge source of tax revenue for the city of New York. Of course the NYPD is going to protect their precious shot. I mean, money and status really does control everything. You're kidding yourself if you're surprised by this.

Contact WNBC

For news tips, please contact the WNBC desk at (212) 664-2731.

30 Rockefeller Plaza

New York City, NY 10012

Main Number: (212) 664-4444

News Tips: (212) 664-2731

Advertising Sales: nbc4sales@nbc.com.

an email address that I used is: wnbc.newsdesk@nbcuni.com

I agree, this is completely unacceptable behavior on the part of WNBC and the police.

This is atrocious treatment on the part of the NBC crew member and the police. NBC and the NY police owe Hungrr an apology; NBC's morning show should have an appearance by Hungrr and arrange for him to receive an apology from the NBC crew member as well as the policemen who scooted him away. Also, Apple could have been vigilant of this type of mistreatment occurring within its iphone circus. Regards, bernardo

Those fucking union scum from NBC should be fired. Where the hell was the reporter?! And WTF is the NYC blue doing?! They should get the ax too. Fucking power hungry shitheads, go back to your fucking two-bit suburb you white pieces of shit!

Please...let's have a little sympathy for NBC.

They're last in the ratings and more than a little desperate!

#5 - you seem to have some gender confusion:

actress = female; actor = male

why do we look the other way?

because there's assholes like number five above.

but karma will straighten things out, it always does. why did dick ebersole's sweetest kid die?

why does a new anchor's kid have autism?

why did that cop die riding his first motorcycle?

that's why I dance my lord of the dance jig with a trash get's his home flooded every summer. just so they don't have to live with minorities.

I laugh when they have shit in their basement.

Whatta joke.

Some homo unemployed actress trying to make a name for himself and the dubious "charity" he represents.

Ah, life in the Big Apple [Store].

Where's Al Sharpton and Charles Barron so the poor confused actress can get his civil right to act up in front of a tv camera?

Norm Siegel?

Because as michael moore mentioned,

it's not WE THE PEOPLE anymore. Can you imagine the power WE THE PEOPLE would have? He also mentioned that in France, the government is afraid of it's people, In the USA, the people are afraid of the Government.

Could be worse: http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/News/1182319763133190.xml&coll=1

In a world afraid of terrorism, everyone seems all to willing to let things like this (in NY and NO) slide.

Read that NOLA article I linked above.

Nobody ever said cops in New Orleans or New York were clean. Hell, they're the two most corrupt forces in the country (well, add LAPD), but here's my question:

When Reverend Billy is getting arrested, when mascots trying to feed the hungry are harrassed, when undercover officers shoot someone repeatedly; why do each and every one of us turn our heads?

Why do we all look the other way?

That was really pathetic for the NBC dudes to claim it's a violation to block his "live" shot! It's a freakin' public street for god sake. Hungrr should definitely sue NBC's ass for harrassment and threats.

Tough white guys, surprise, surprise, surprise

and people wonder why we don't want filming in the city.

I bet they were Union workers, too.

This is why I dance my michael flatly best when a cop dies or a white trash union worker from a racist suburb gets mamed.