Quotes
"Oobah is an actual Artist. He is, internationally, in a genre of one, and I can never wait to see what sensational idea he has next” Marina Hyde, The Guardian
"Precisely the sort of youth-friendly factual fare that Channel 4 should be making” The Daily Telegraph on The Great Amazon Heist
"Oobah Butler’s impishly creative documentary sees him go undercover, list urine on the site and dupe them into funding road repairs. It’s laugh-out-loud funny” The Guardian on The Great Amazon Heist
“Both hugely elaborate and curiously insightful.” BBC Beyond Today
"Oobah is a platinum-class, platinum-blonde force for good in this world and we should all pay close attention.” Derren Brown
"Oobah Butler is probably the best prankster working today.” The AV Club
"I think Oobah might be a genius. His ability to take a ludicrous idea and run with it takes proper skill, but then to twist it further when you think it’s all over is divine. The world is a far funnier and more interesting place with people like Oobah in it.” Joe Lycett
Selected Press
Oobah’s work has been featured globally in the likes of the Washington Post,
Forbes, The New Yorker, BBC, Der Spiegel, The Guardian, Architectural Digest, CBC, The Times, Globo TV,
Wall Street Journal, NPR, Good Morning Britain, Good Morning America & more.
Oobah is not doing any more press about his book. To view more on that, click here.
INTERVIEW: Oobah Butler is taking on Amazon, one bottle of piss at a time in Dazed
October ‘23
As his new documentary The Great Amazon Heist airs on Channel 4, we sit down with the writer and internet prankster to discuss the company’s shady dealings, the lengthy legal issues he’s now embroiled in, and what it really feels like to bottle gold.
BOOK BEST-SELLER LIST PERFORMANCE 2019
‘How To Bullsh*t Your Way To Number 1’ reached:
#8 in Non-Fiction in the Los Angeles Times
#1 in Humor on USA TODAY
#2 Barnes & Noble
#1 in Self-Help & Psychology Humor on AMAZON US
For more press about the book, follow here.
‘INTERVIEW: Catfish UK hosts Julie Adenuga and Oobah Butler: ‘Manipulating people online has never been easier’ in THE GUARDIAN, London, April ‘21
As a British version of the hit US reality show launches, we spoke to its presenters about the rise of dating deception in lockdown – and what they’re doing to help
‘ANNOUNCEMENT: MTV announces ‘Catfish UK’, coming next month’ in NME
March ‘21
MTV has announced a new UK version of Catfish – check out a preview below. The US version of the reality series, which delves into “the truths and lies of online dating”, has run for eight seasons since premiering back in 2013.
Hosted by former Apple Music presenter Julie Adenuga and journalist/author Oobah Butler, the show will return to UK screens for a further six episodes later this year. An exact air date is not yet known.
‘INTERVIEW: Oobah Butler: Virtual Worlds’ in MONROWE MAGAZINE, New York, November ‘19
Story by Amber Hurwitz. photography by EVGENY POPOV
In our hyper-mediated world, virtual reality and an excess of data have all but subsumed day-to-day experience. Our lives are orchestrated by online communities. We decide what to eat, where to go, and what to do based on curated imagery online. Slowly, but surely, we are becoming a culture teetering on the threshold between fantasy and materiality — where careers are made on Instagram and a poor Yelp review could mean the end. It is from within this fissure that journalist Oobah Butler has turned social experiments into a unique art form. His best-selling book, How to Bullsh*t Your Way to Number 1: a testament to falsehood and manufactured authenticity.
AWARDS
2018-?
June ‘23, National Reality TV Awards: Best Male Personality
May ‘19, The Webbys: Best Use of ‘Video: Weird’
May ‘18, The Drum Online Media Awards: Content Creator of the Year 2018
May ‘18, British Media Awards: Video Project of the Year
May ‘18, British Society of Magazine Editors Talent Awards: Best Content Idea
COVER FEATURE: Interview with Oobah Butler in Danish Newspaper POLITIKEN
April ‘19
Leading up to the release of ‘How To Bullsh*t Your Way To Number 1’, Denmark’s Politiken visits Oobah at his shed to discuss his work and the future.
For more press about the book, follow here.
INTERVIEW: An with Oobah Butler on BBC RADIO 4
April ‘19
Oobah Butler is a writer and professional mischief maker. Last year he made the news for hacking TripAdvisor’s review system by getting his fake restaurant rated number one in London. Whether he's blagging his way into fashion week as a knock off brand designer or sending fake versions of himself on to the BBC, his pranks are often both hugely elaborate and curiously insightful. The BBC got him in to find out why he does it all.
REVIEW: THE GREAT AMAZON HEIST in The Daily Telegraph
October ‘23
A review of Butler’s documentary The Great Amazon Heist on Channel 4.
For more press about the book, follow here.
NEWS: Amazon Let Its Drivers’ Urine Be Sold as an Energy Drink in Wired
WIRED, October ‘23
Amazon sold bottles of urine marketed as an energy drink, a new documentary alleges. The company is said to make it alarmingly easy to sell dangerous items to children.
INTERVIEW: US Book Launch on NPR
April ‘19
On the launch of his new book, ‘How To Bullsh*t Your Way To Number 1’, Oobah sits down with NPR’s Robin Young to discuss the details of the book.
For more press about the book, follow here.
‘COVERAGE: Man Hires Hotter, More Successful Body Double To Attend His High School Reunion’ in THE AV CLUB, Chicago, November ‘20
Oobah Butler is probably the best prankster working today. In the past, he messed with the mechanisms of modern hype to create TripAdvisor’s top-rated London restaurant out of an impromptu backyard eatery and, in response to the resulting media frenzy, hired a team of body doubles to handle his appearances on international radio and TV news. Lately, he’s been making short documentaries for Vice about his new service, which allows clients to have an impersonator do things for them they’d rather not have to do.
After helping a guy avoid skydiving with his wife by swapping him for a fake version of himself, Butler turned to a man in Maryland who wanted to impress his old classmates at a high school reunion by showing up as a hotter, more successful guy than he really is.
‘BLOG: Six of Catfish UK host Oobah Butler’s most outrageous pranks’ in THE INDEPENDENT, London, April ‘21
Ashton Kutcher, Johnny Knoxville, Dom Joly, Jeremy Beadle, Doink the Clown. Just some of the world’s greatest and most famous pranksters – but they all pale in comparison to British author, journalist and filmmaker Oobah Butler.
‘INTERVIEW: Oobah Butler: Faking It To First Place’ in THE AUSTRALIAN, Sydney, July ‘19
Oobah Butler, the virologist of TripAdvisor, with his best-selling book, top left, and in his fictional “the Shed’ restaurant aka his backyard, top right, complete with imaginary menu, bottom right. Pictures: Twitter
He used to be a musician. Wikipedia lists him as a writer and filmmaker. But Oobah Butler is damn nigh impossible to catalogue. What, after all, do you call a guy who faked a restaurant so well it shot to the top of TripAdvisor, even though it didn’t exist?
‘INTERVIEW: Viral Sensation Oobah Butler explores How To Bullsh*t Your Way To Number 1’ CHEDDAR TV, NEW YORK, April ‘19.
A TV interview in support of Oobah Butler’s debut book, ‘How To Bullsh*t Your Way To Number 1’.
INTERVIEW: Fake restaurateur sends fake stand-ins for TV interviews in THE GUARDIAN
October ‘18
A man who tricked TripAdvisor into making his fake restaurant the top-rated destination in London has struck again, after successfully sending fake versions of himself to appear on TV and radio stations around the world.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: Singaporean Parliament Uses Fake Restaurant To Inform New Laws on Fake News VICE
March ‘18
Never did we think this fiendish lark would be significant enough for Singapore’s lawmakers to seriously discuss it in a special Parliamentary hearing. On March 16, Mila Pilao, Director of Core Technology Marketing at Trend Micro, was called forth to explain to the newly formed Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods how Butler’s stunt was even possible.
“He had someone put up a picture like this, where it’s held together by a foot. Um… but looking quite attractive otherwise,” Tong stated, pointing to the VICE article on a screen.
TV INTERVIEW: The man who made his shed into London's top-rated (fake) restaurant on GOOD MORNING BRITAIN
December ‘17
When you think about booking a table for a special occasion, do you look online for the best rated? If so, you might do so more cautiously after hearing Oobah Butler's story of how he became London's top up-and-coming restauranteur, without so much as sautéing a scallop. The Vice journalist managed to fool food lovers and tourists using Trip Advisor into thinking the garden shed he lives in was London's top-rated restaurant, thanks to fake reviews written by friends and some rather deceptive photography.
FEATURE: The Never-Ending War On Fake Reviews in THE NEW YORKER
May ‘18
A feature by New Yorker writer Simon Parkin about the industry-wide phenomenon of review-brushing, featuring an interview with Oobah and his story as the central case study.
TV EPISODE: ‘Unbelievable’ Japanese TV Special on the Shed at Dulwich on FUJI TV
March ‘18
Beat Takeshi presents an hour-long documentary about The Shed at Dulwich story for Japanese TV Station, FUJI TV. Oobah is both interviewed extensively for the program, and an actor plays him within the show.