By 2025, the internet had its own “Easter eggs,” sometimes literally. You only had to open your cell phone to see a rabbit jumping on a trampoline, Messi supporting Flamengo before the Libertadores final or an outraged kangaroo in the boarding line. Between a video of a child praying for the elevator to open and a show sung by a digital tucana, the year has been busy for those who like to doubt everything… and also get caught in a few traps.
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The feeling, for many, was that of living in a great “Game of Seven Mistakes,” but without an instruction manual: everything seemed too real to be fake and too fake to be real. The line between the physical and synthetic world has become so blurred that even a few tourists in Malaysia have traveled nearly 400 kilometers behind a cable car that only existed in software. In Brazil, a presenter in a black swimsuit covered X, while a hit about São Paulo composed by a tucana sertaneja entered the timelines’ imagination.
Below, O GLOBO recalls seven viral videos that fooled – or almost fooled – the crowds this year.
1. Trampoline bunnies
The cutest “fake” video of the year was undoubtedly the one of bunnies jumping on a trampoline. Posted on TikTok in July, it has more than 10.1 million views and won over Internet users with the caption: “I didn’t know how much I needed to see rabbits jumping on a trampoline”.
The grace, however, had a digital signature: SynthID, a Google detector, identified watermarks invisible to the human eye and concluded that the content had been created with the company’s own AI tools.
2. Messi wearing the Flamengo jersey
On the eve of the Libertadores 2025 final in November, a video of Lionel Messi wearing a Flamengo jersey set the networks alight. It seemed convincing enough to spark discussion among fans, but AFP checks showed it was an AI creation.
With technologies like OpenAI’s Sora, the assemblage included movement, shadows, and fabric textures that fooled even experienced eyes—but it was fiction.
3. Kangaroo banned from boarding
In May, a video showing a kangaroo being prevented from boarding a flight quickly went viral.
In the scene, the animal held a boarding pass while its supposed owner argued with an airport employee in a nonexistent language. Despite the legend indicating that it was an AI, many Internet users believed the story.
The publication exceeded 11 million views before being denied: from the uniform to the kangaroo movement, everything was synthetic.
4. The child who prayed in the elevator
Another moving piece that circulated on Brazilian networks showed a child alone in the elevator, kneeling and praying for the door to open.
Shared as a warning about child safety, the video garnered thousands of comments before more attentive users noticed typical AI flaws, such as facial distortions and inaccurate shadows.
Shortly after, confirmation arrives: it is another virus generated entirely by artificial intelligence.
5. AI Interviews – and the cable car that never was
Another craze this year: the reports and interviews produced by AI, which faithfully imitate the traditional journalistic format: microphone in hand, perfect frame, convincing interviewees and story that seems taken from television.
The problem – or the fun – is that many of these “articles” end with a joke, a problem or a completely surreal detail.
The most emblematic case of this boom came from Malaysia, where an elderly couple traveled almost 400 km believing in the existence of the Kuak Skyride cable car, featured in one of these false reports.
The video, shared in July, showed a “TV Rakyat” reporter guiding viewers through a scenic tour of Pengkalan Hulu, complete with interviews, mountainous landscapes and very realistic details.
However, upon careful observation, typical AI flaws appeared: fused hands, distorted bodies, and impossible movements. Arriving at their supposed destination, the couple discovers at the hotel reception that the cable car never existed and that they have been victims of an article that seems too real to be true.
6. Marisa Maiô, the presenter who doesn’t exist
At the same time, in June, a new TV star appeared – and disappeared – in a matter of days. Marisa Maiô, a fictional presenter created by Raony Phillips with Veo3 software, went viral on X with scenes from a supposed talk show.
With an aesthetic reminiscent of the 1990s and precisely timed mood boards, the videos have exceeded 1.6 million views. Despite public demand, Raony said she had no plans to turn the game into a series: Marisa Maiô was born to be viral, and that’s it.
7. Tocanna, the toucan singer from São Paulo
To close the list, one of the most unusual phenomena: Tocanna, a fictional country singer with a toucan beak.
In September, she went viral with a version of Empire State of Mind adapted for São Paulo – with the famous “In the City of São Paulooooooooo” crossing timelines. The lyrics brought acidic references to daily life in São Paulo and quickly spread into humorous videos.
Among them: “Good sex in Cracolândia, in a corner without light”, “In the city of São Paulo I can be robbed or stabbed” and “But I will give in to São Paulo”.
Created entirely by AI, the character helped cement 2025 as the year of “synthetic pop.”
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