Video of cellphones used to pop popcorn kernels is part of viral marketing campaign

An old video newly circulating on social media should come with a warning: Don’t try this at home — if you want popcorn. 

In the video several people sit around a coffee table that holds four kernels of popcorn flanked by three cellphones. The phones begin to ring and buzz, and, after a moment, three of the kernels appear to pop. 

A text overlay on the video says, "Proof that cell phones emit radiation."

A post sharing this video was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook.)

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The video is one of four popcorn videos that drew media attention in June 2008. They were traced back to a pair of French YouTube accounts, the Guardian reported then. Later that month, Cardo System, a Bluetooth headset maker, revealed that they were produced by a marketing agency for a marketing campaign.  

Lou Bloomfield, a University of Virginia physics professor, told Wired in 2008 that it’s physically impossible for phones to pop kernels as the video portrays. 

We rate claims that this video actually shows cellphones popping popcorn kernels False.