A struggling skier in the background of a local ski report took social media by storm on Thursday, but it turns out the video was a fake.
Abbey Way made her snow report with drone footage as Pennsylvania’s Seven Springs Mountain Resort social media coordinator. As she talked, a klutzy skier photobombed her shot. The woman was grappling a guard rail while navigating snow-covered stairs and holding on for dear life.
As she desperately hangs on, our attention moves to this woman’s journey down the stairs.
Later, the woman identified as “Mrs. Bean,” and a resort spokesperson said it was part of a staged publicity campaign. The joke’s on us, right? According to The Daily Mail, the video had more than 1.6 million Twitter views at one point.
The resort is about an hour southeast of Pittsburgh.
Skier’s ‘Struggles’ Earn Her A Second Video
Sure, a polished ski report with scenic views would get attention. But it was nothing like the “Mrs. Bean” video clip.
According to The Daily Mail, Ski resort spokesman Alex Moser said the “Mrs. Bean” clip was one of many “pre-choreographed stunts” the resort has used in the past month. Moser said Way “doesn’t usually even know what’s going on behind her.”
In another resort video, Way interviews the woman. Resort skiers line up in the background, cheering her on. At one point, she’s shown signing a skier’s stomach to go with her “new-found” celebrity status.
In another holiday “report,” video caught a Grinch tackling an “unsuspecting” skier during a Christmas Eve report.
Another Santa Claus-costumed person then tackles the Grinch as the skier runs away. Way continues the rest of her report as The Grinch lays on the ground.
“We’ve been trying to do something a little different this year with something humorous going on in the background … trying to make it a little more interesting,” Moser told The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
In another tweet, former TV reporter Way joked about being in the same league as Tori Yorgey. Yorgey, another native Pennsylvanian, was in the news last week. The woman was reporting at a West Virginia water main break when an SUV hit her. Despite the scary scene, Yorgey continued to report on the water main break.
She picked herself up off the ground, told everyone she was OK and continued to work. The accident happened on her last week of working at that news station.
Social Media Has Mixed Reactions To Latest Ski Stunt
Folks loved and hated the newest video of Way interviewing “Mrs. Bean.”
One Scottish Twitter user said, “You guys are marketing geniuses, I want to come, and I can neither ski nor live in the US let alone Pennsylvania.”
Americans seemed to have fun with the video. One Twitter user replied, “Everything about this is gold. Keep up the good work.”
Way herself joked that she got Mrs. Bean’s autograph.
