Video-Action - The student sneaks a Grimme-Prize
Grimme Award for a Student: Valentin Herfel from Hachenburg in Rhineland-Palatinate made a Grimme Award for himself in an action for a YouTube video. He contacted the Grimme Institute and the jeweler and claimed he wanted to order a Grimme Award as a customer. The 33-year-old student admits, "I must confess that I didn't expect it to work even in the slightest." According to previous reports by SWR.
The Grimme Award, which is given annually, stands for top quality in Television or the Internet. The Grimme Institute confirmed that in this case, it is a duplicate with the name of the award recipient Jakob Lundt. He had received the award in 2018 as part of Circus HalliGalli's team - ironically, for the introduction of a Ryan Gosling double at the Golden Camera.
Grimme Institute: Deceptive Hoax
Herfel pretended to be someone else to obtain a duplicate for what was supposedly a lost Grimme Award on behalf of Lundt, according to the Institute. Award recipients can request a duplicate at their own expense if the original is lost or damaged. "He deceived the Grimme Institute."
Herfel sees it more lightly. "I never explicitly said that I was an employee of Jakob Lundt. The formulation was: I called for a customer," he says. He never represented himself as someone who actually existed. "I feel most people find it amusing."
But how did he come up with the idea in the first place? "I'm a media student and therefore know about the Grimme Award." It all started in January when he first contacted the jeweler and then the Grimme Institute. In March, he then picked up the duplicate with a fictitious shipping company.
Action for YouTube Channel and Bachelor Thesis filmed
The entire action can be seen on his YouTube channel, where the video was uploaded on Thursday. "I don't care about becoming the next big YouTuber," says Herfel. "In essence, my Bachelor thesis is supposed to come from this." He wants to investigate how and why videos on his channel are clicked. He would rather be behind the camera.
The Grimme Institute is consulting lawyers according to their own statements. "In this case, it involves a deceptive hoax that crosses boundaries," it says. The 33-year-old student says about this: "I'm theoretically open to talking and I don't want to harm anyone." Principally, he is willing to return the award. "His" Grimme Award remains at home on the DVD shelf.
- People were surprised when Valentin Herfel from Hachenburg in Rhineland-Palatinate received a Grimme Award for his YouTube video, as it's typically given annually for top quality in Television or the Internet.
- The Grimme Institute confirmed that the award received by Jakob Lundt in 2018 as part of Circus HalliGalli's team was a duplicate, following Herfel's deceptive hoax.
- Herfel, a media student, contacted the Grimme Institute and the jeweler, claiming he wanted to order a Grimme Award as a customer, with the intent of obtaining a duplicate for Lundt's supposedly lost award.
- The Grime-Prize recipient for a Student, Herfel, admits that he didn't expect his prank to work, and the 33-year-old is currently facing legal consultations from the Grimme Institute over his actions.
- Marl native Herfel's action for his YouTube channel and Bachelor thesis involved contacting the jeweler and Grimme Institute, picking up the duplicate with a fictitious shipping company, and documenting the entire process for his YouTube audience.
- Herfel's actions have caused a stir in Germany, with North Rhine-Westphalia's SWR reporting on the unusual story, and the Grimme Institute contemplating further consequences for the media student's deceptive hoax.
