LONDON (AP) — It started out as a routine bit of fun at a Coldplay concert: Lead singer Chris Martin asked the cameras to scan the crowd for his “Jumbotron Song,” when he sings a few lines about the people the camera lands on.
At a concert at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts on Wednesday, a man wearing a birthday sash was up first. Two people in banana costumes were highlighted.
But in between, something else ensued. For several seconds, a couple was shown on the big screen. They were cuddling and smiling, his arms wrapped around her, as she leaned back into him. When they saw themselves on the big screen, her jaw dropped, her hands flew to her face and she spun away from the camera. He ducked out of the frame, as did she.
“Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy,” Martin joked.
But it didn’t end there. The video went viral, and the internet got to work.
Internet sleuths think they know who the people are
The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the couple’s identity.
But internet sleuths allege he is the chief executive officer of a U.S.-based company, while she is the chief people officer — in other words, the head of human resources.
A spokesman for the company did not respond when asked to confirm the identities of the people shown on camera. But he said in an email that a statement circulating online that was attributed to the chief executive was a “fake from a clearly labeled parody account.” The company later released a statement saying it had opened an investigation into the incident, but did not directly identify the employees.
The woman didn’t respond to a request for comment on LinkedIn. The man’s LinkedIn page appeared to be deactivated, and no other way of contacting him could be immediately found. A phone call to a number listed in an online directory under his name went straight to voicemail. Attempts to reach him through other numbers associated with his name in the directory were not successful.
A representative for Coldplay said the band had no comment.
Most concert venues warn attendees that they can be filmed
It’s easy to miss, but most concert venues have signs informing the audience that they could be filmed during the event. Look for them on the walls when you arrive and around the bar areas or toilets. It’s common practice especially when bands like to use performances for music videos or concert films.
The venue in this case, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, also has a privacy policy online which states: “When you visit our location or attend or participate in an event at our location, we may capture your image, voice and/or likeness, including through the use of CCTV cameras and/or when we film or photograph you in a public location.”
Once captured, a moment can be shared widely
In the internet age, such videos — or ones taken on someone’s smartphone — can quickly zip around the world.
This video rocketed around social media, as people speculated about why the couple dodged the camera.
Empathy for the pair and their families was mixed with plenty of snarky commentary and countless memes, with the fake statement from the chief executive generating a lot of additional vitriol. And news reports said that the CEO’s LinkedIn account was disabled after it was flooded by a wave of comments.
“It’s a little bit unsettling how easily we can be identified with biometrics, how our faces are online, how social media can track us — and how the internet has gone from being a place of interaction, to a gigantic surveillance system,” said Mary Angela Bock, an associate professor in the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Journalism and Media. “We are being surveilled by our social media. They’re tracking us in exchange for entertaining us.”
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AP Business Writer Wyatte Grantham-Philips contributed to this report from New York.
