I want this hoverboard hoax to be real so badly, because I am a living human being with feelings. Unfortunately, it is most assuredly not real despite the numerous celebrity endorsements and relatively elaborate website. But what does it all mean? I don’t know, but I’m guessing it’s viral marketing for something Back to the Future coming our way.
What that thing is remains to be seen, although I’m personally hoping it’s not the Back to the Future musical that’s in the works. Although, maybe it would be better if it were for that and not something else, because I’d really like for Back to the Future not to be mangled by a gritty remake like everything else—including Santa Claus. Before I continue, let me just put this here in case you’re feeling a little gullible today:
What you see passing in front of that little building above is pretty much definitely the shadow of whatever harness they’re using to hold people off the ground on the board. Go ahead and take a minute to pick up your shattered dreams.
The direct Back to the Future tie-in extends all the way to the HUVr website, where they have a graphic of the DeLorean’s clock on the upper part of the page. They’ve also got a legal terms section, which will explain to you why you can’t sue them when you quit your job to become a professional hoverboarder only to find out it’s not real:
All features, content, specifications, products and prices of products and services described or depicted on this website are subject to change at any time without notice. Certain weights, measures and similar descriptions are approximate and are provided for convenience purposes only. HUVr Tech (“HUVr”), which operates this website, make all reasonable efforts to accurately display the attributes of our products, including the applicable colors; however, the actual color you see will depend on your computer system, and we cannot guarantee that your computer will accurately display such colors. The inclusion of any products or services on this website at a particular time does not imply or warrant that these products or services will be available at any time.
Features and specifications of the product may change at any time without notice. You know, features and specifications like “being a skateboard that hovers off the ground.” They’ve also got another video to explain how it works that is predictably absent of any such explanation:
Of course, anyone can tell that this is all a fake, but a lot of effort went into this, so it’s a good bet that it’s promoting something real. Unfortunately, aside from the vague sense that it’s something Back to the Future, we don’t have a whole lot to go on, but we should know by the end of the year, because the clock on the site says the destination date is December, 2014.
That date would also make a lot of sense to kick off something Back to the Future related, because 2015 is the year Marty travels to in the future no matter what any other Internet hoaxes have convinced you in the past.
(via Paleofuture, image via HUVr)
- Yeah, there’s really going to be a Back to the Future musical
- Blink to the Future is a great Doctor Who/Back to the Future mashup
- Physicists looked on Twitter for time travelers and somehow didn’t find any
