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People who believed her sob story are now angry

This article is more than 12 months old

Two weeks ago, she had posted a video on YouTube that had pulled at the heartstrings of many who watched it.

In it, she said her name was Natalie Amyot, a French woman who found out she was pregnant after a one night stand during her previous three-month holiday in Mooloolaba in Australia.

Back in Paris where she had lost her cellphone, she urged people to help her find the father of her unborn child whom she said was tall, with blond hair and blue eyes.

Hundreds of netizens shared her video (below) and left her encouraging messages on her Facebook page, which she started after her video went viral.

On her Facebook page, she posted messages such as: "'Please. I didn't think it would be on news...I just want to see him again...sorry..I have nothing left if I don't find him."

Fox News reported that a staff working at the pub where she met the mystery man would not comment as the pub had a policy not to comment on the goings-on at their pub.

WATCH: I found him

 

 

Now, it has been revealed that it was all a marketing stunt.

According to Mail Online, Mr Andy Sellar, owner of Sunny Coast social media has admitted that the video was a hoax — or what he calls "viral videos for business".

Those who had believed Natalie Amyot's (played by actress Alizee Michele) story are outraged by the company's "lack of ethics".

Mr Sellar said: "This has been a viral video for Holiday Mooloolaba.

"Now I know there is going to be a lot of you that are upset by this... maybe not too happy.

"But this young lady was just a volunteer in this.

"I did all the Facebook, YouTube, I did all the answering. She had nothing to do with that."

Mr Sellar said that the goal of his video was to put Mooloolaba on the map because it's a "wonderful place".

He said that his company is going to produce many more videos like this.

Before Mr Seller came clean with his marketing campaign, some people who recognised Ms Michele had raised suspicions that the she had assumed another identity in the video.

However, they were not sure if her story was still true or not.

Furious netizens have slammed Ms Michele for making the decision to star in a video that she knew would have taken many for a ride.

Ms Michele, however, doesn't seem to think that she has done anything wrong.

On her social media, she tells her detractors to "keep calm" because it was "a joke".

Source: Fox News, Mail Online, YouTube

AustraliaUncategorisedmarketingViral VideoMooloolaba