Adrian Gee of Adelaide, Australia performed a social experiment to show whether people will blatantly steal money from a blind guy or whether they will be honest to him even though he could not see.
In a video which has since gone viral on YouTube, hitting over 2.2 million views in just a fortnight, Adrian posed as the blind man, complete with dark sunglasses and a cane. He pretended to ask people if they had change for his AUS$50 while actually handing them AUS$5.
The video showed a number of people actually giving back a small amount to the “blind” Adrian and going off with his AUS$50. Of course, that can still be considered as stealing, especially considering that it was a blind man who mistakenly handed them the wrong paper bill.
There were those who were honest to Adrian but many were dishonest, choosing to pocket the money and walk away. The YouTuber ran after them, asking for the money back and explaining that they were actually doing a social experiment. Of course, the “thieves” returned the money to him.
Angered by the opportunist people in the video, netizens across the world bashed these people for what they had done – but the most important haters were those who knew these people personally.
One of these “thieves” was a man who had identifying marks on his arms – family and friends quickly called him, angry over what he did, especially because it had gone viral. The video did not show his face but they recognized him right away. It turns out this man is an actor and the negative backlash he received from his own community led him to expose Adrian as a fraudster who simply hired actors to create his social experiment.
Rodney Lohse, host of Australian show Today Tonight, turned the tables on Adrian as he first pretended to praise the young man for his social experiment which aimed to promote honesty in people, only to later expose him as a fraudster. Rodney was amazed at Adrian’s excellent acting skills even after he was exposed.
Watch the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WpK–r8uKs