Karl Bode at DSLREports.com came across something rather funny, about something that was more than funny.
I don’t know if you saw it, but in the spring a YouTube video went viral talking about how cable companies rip off their customers simply because they can. We here at Worldline thought it hilarious, but we didn’t want to play it up at the time – and not just because of the NSFW language.
But now?
Now, for whatever reason, the video has been censored in Canada:
Karl notes, in the video called the “first honest cable commercial”, “a fake cable industry representative (Nick Smith) promises poor service, underwhelming broadband speeds, and a “plethora of hidden fees,” before educating viewers on the finer points of what being an oligopoly really means.”
The film by Extremely Decent Films struck a nerve, and quickly netted millions of Internet views.
While the film is pretty clearly aimed at American cable companies (see the 0:24 mark), users in our forums and over at Reddit recently noted that the film has been banned in Canada.
Users trying to view the original video in Canada are greeted with a warning telling them that YouTube has pulled the video due to a defamation complaint from an unknown source. Re-uploads of the original video have yet to be similarly censored yet.
It’s unclear who in Canada would file a defamation complaint (or why YouTube would listen) given this is a United States parody criticizing United States cable companies, none of which are specifically named. Still, Canadian defamation laws can be rather loose, and the video obviously hit too close to home for somebody.
Karl re-posted the video below – PLEASE NOTE: there is some very NSFW language in there so consider yourself warned:
We’ll see how long it lasts.
I don’t think this commercial is aimed at any company or country in particular. Saying that it is makes me believe your company has a ‘guilty conscious’. And given the reviews about Worldline, also makes me believe your not a true Canadian company if all of your costumer service is out of the Caribbean. I WAS very interested in your services, but I knew it was too good to be true. Unless you can convince otherwise, thanx anyway.
Signed: Extremely Disapointed
You’re right – it’s not targeted at any particular country or company – but it doesn’t apply to us. We operate in a way to ensure that our customers are provided the best service possible at the fairest price. We do that through a number of measures, including having a call centre in the Dominican Republic. However the 70 employees of our Can Call division are as much a part of our company as those who work in our Cambridge Ontario head office. We own the call centre, it’s managed by a team of dedicated Canadians and overseen by Pete Cross, a Worldline original. The economic reality of providing a cost effective service precludes us from having all of our customer service based in Canada, however we do have an extensive team here.
Bottom line – we are a Canadian owned and operated company servicing hundreds of thousands of our fellow countryman – and we couldn’t be more proud of what we do. If that’s not good enough for you Mike, that’s okay.