Bride Has Massive Hair Wig Out is the name of a viral video

Viral video

A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...

 uploaded to YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

 in early 2007. Apparently shot by one of three bridesmaid

Bridesmaid

The bridesmaids are members of the bride's wedding party in a wedding. A bridesmaid is typically a young woman, and often a close friend or sister. She attends to the bride on the day of a wedding or marriage ceremony...

s, it shows a bride (Canadian actress Jodi Behan) so unhappy with her hairstyle

Hairstyle

A hairstyle, hairdo, or haircut refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human head. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming, fashion, and cosmetics, although practical, cultural, and popular considerations also influence some hairstyles.-History of...

 on her wedding

Wedding

A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...

 day that she starts cutting it off.

It quickly became popular and widely linked

Hyperlink

In computing, a hyperlink is a reference to data that the reader can directly follow, or that is followed automatically. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text with hyperlinks...

 to. Viewers, and eventually the news media, began debating whether it was real or staged. Two weeks later, after the clip had been viewed 2.8 million times, it was revealed to have been part of a campaign created by marketing firm Capital C, for Unilever

Unilever

Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....

 for its Sunsilk

Sunsilk

Sunsilk is a hair care brand, primarily aimed at women, produced by the Unilever group, which is now considered the world's leading company in hair conditioning and the second largest in shampoo. Sunsilk is Unilever’s leading hair care brand, and ranks as one of the Anglo-Dutch conglomerate's...

 brand of hair care

Hair care

Hair care is an overall term for parts of hygiene and cosmetology involving the hair on the human head. Hair care will differ according to one's hair type and according to various processes that can be applied to hair...

 products, and removed. It featured actor/writer Ingrid Haas who was hired as the writer and bridesmaid along with Jessie Behan (who plays the most attentive bridesmaid) and John Griffith directed and videographed it.

Synopsis

The six-minute clip begins with three bridesmaids killing time in a hotel room while awaiting Jodi, the bride, who they note is running a little late. They joke around and open a bottle of champagne. Two are seen, identified as "Jessie" and "Esther"; the camcorder

Camcorder

A camcorder is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit. Equipment manufacturers do not seem to have strict guidelines for the term usage...

 operator is never seen nor named.

Jodi arrives, slams the door and falls to the floor crying about her hair. The other women try to console her. She seems to calm down. They urge her to start getting her dress on. However, once she sees herself in the mirror

Mirror

A mirror is an object that reflects light or sound in a way that preserves much of its original quality prior to its contact with the mirror. Some mirrors also filter out some wavelengths, while preserving other wavelengths in the reflection...

 she returns to her disappointment with her hair. After a skip where the camera is turned off, Jessie offers Jodi some champagne and reassures her things will work out. But the bride is still not convinced. After another break, the camera shows her cutting her hair.

When she sees herself in the mirror, Jodi starts to cry again, and starts blaming Jessie for "letting her cut her hair". Esther and the camerawoman are amused; Jessie tries to make the best of the situation. After another cut, Jessie is trying to cut more of Jodi's braids off as all three bridesmaids try again to reassure her. Finally she sees the camera again and lunges toward it.

Cast

• Jodi Behan as Jodi, a bride-to-be extremely unhappy with her hairstyle
• Jessie Behan as Jessie, her older sister and the most helpful bridesmaid
  Bridesmaid
  The bridesmaids are members of the bride's wedding party in a wedding. A bridesmaid is typically a young woman, and often a close friend or sister. She attends to the bride on the day of a wedding or marriage ceremony...
  
   of the three.
• Esther Orosz as Esther, another bridesmaid who mostly stands aside trying to keep a straight face and drinking champagne.
• Ingrid Haas as The camera operator/ bridesmaid, never seen.

Production

Toronto advertising agency Capital C hired John Griffith, a director with production company, Burnout, to direct their video. He saw Haas and Jessie Behan in a play

Play (theatre)

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

 and liked their acting enough to give them the roles. Jodi Behan and Orosz were brought in later.

It was later filmed at the Four Points by Sheraton in a single take. Jodi got the starring role because she was the only one of the four willing to cut off her own hair. It was uploaded shortly afterwards. The four were signed to a confidentiality agreement and could not reveal their roles in the video.

Reception

The clip was uploaded to YouTube by "wigoutgirl" on January 18, 2007. It almost immediately received many favorites and views. Soon it was among the featured videos on the site's main page. Eventually, that one copy would be viewed almost 2.8 million times (and overall, all copies viewed 12 million times).

Griffith estimated that the first two million viewers watched because they thought it was real and the second two million wanted to see if it was a fake. "It didn't matter to us whether people believed it or didn't believe it - just as long as they were watching it, sharing it with their friends and talking about it," he says.

Debate on authenticity

Some commenters suspected the clip was fake, noting that the camera operator never stops and helps out and that Jodi's hair seemed to be a wig, even though Behan actually did cut her own hair. Others felt it was authentic because Jodi's button-down shirt was consistent with what a bride would wear after having her hair done so as to avoid ruining the style by taking a top off over the hair.

Canadian media

Media in Canada

Canada has a well-developed media sector, but its cultural output — particularly in English films, television shows, and magazines — is often overshadowed by imports from the United States. Television, magazines, and newspapers are primarily for-profit corporations based on advertising,...

 were particularly interested since the clip was believed to have originated in that country. The Toronto Star

Toronto Star

The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

even got legendary film director Norman Jewison

Norman Jewison

Norman Frederick Jewison, CC, O.Ont is a Canadian film director, producer, actor and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. Highlights of his directing career include In the Heat of the Night , The Thomas Crown Affair , Fiddler on the Roof , Jesus Christ Superstar , Moonstruck , The Hurricane and The...

 to review the clip. He was suspicious, believing the hair to be a wig, but admitted he couldn't say for sure and that if it was, the woman playing the bride had a future in acting.

Other responses

Some YouTubers recorded responses, either urging Jodi to calm down or expressing sympathy for her, since one of her worst moments had just been broadcast for the entire world to see by someone she should have considered a friend. Others parodied the video, usually showing men in a similar situation.

Origins revealed

As the month ended, Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

-area gossip columns and websites began receiving tips that "Jodi" was local actress Jodi Behan. The next day Behan, her sister Jessie and another actress, Esther Orosz, revealed themselves as the characters and admitted it was all staged in a round of media appearances in both the U.S. and Canada (when the quartet appeared on Good Morning America

Good Morning America

Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...

, Jodi had a paper bag

Paper bag

A paper bag or paper sack is a preformed container made of paper, usually with an opening on one side. It can be one layer of paper or multiple layers of paper and other flexible materials. A bag is used for packaging and/or carrying items....

 over her face until it was unveiled). They hoped it would help their acting careers.

Along with them was Haas, who explained that the whole film had been shot to promote Unilever

Unilever

Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....

's Sunsilk

Sunsilk

Sunsilk is a hair care brand, primarily aimed at women, produced by the Unilever group, which is now considered the world's leading company in hair conditioning and the second largest in shampoo. Sunsilk is Unilever’s leading hair care brand, and ranks as one of the Anglo-Dutch conglomerate's...

 brand of hair care

Hair care

Hair care is an overall term for parts of hygiene and cosmetology involving the hair on the human head. Hair care will differ according to one's hair type and according to various processes that can be applied to hair...

products. Originally several more had been planned, but the success of the first one had led the company to move right into an ad campaign that would play on the phrase "wig out" and offer solutions, its executives said. Later, industry observers questioned the effectiveness of the campaign in promoting the Sunsilk brand because it received little attention compared to the video.