Miracle Machine: From water becomes wine

It sounds too beautiful to be true: water into wine is supposed to be the “Miracle Machine”. It was easy to do that, the makers of the shapely cylinder promised at the beginning of March, with the “first affordable wine making device” in the world. Price: 499 USD.


Only water would be needed for the production, only a few ingredients which could be ordered in the onlineshop. After three days, the wine was ready for drinking, in addition to Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. A kickstarter campaign would start soon.


Behind the Miracle machine are two well-known names in the wine industry: Brith Philip James founded the wine community Snooth and the online wine merchant Lot18, Kevin Boyer also worked for Lot18 and is now head of CustomVine, a producer of individual wines for companies >

Why not believe these two experienced producers of grape processing? Also, if you want to present your project with a decorative, well-done home page?


"The time has come," said Mashable, "and it was now possible for Jesus to do it," wrote the magazine "Time." From the US, the theme sprang to Europe, promising the British tabloid "Daily Mail" Jesus-inspired machine turns its tap water into fusel for only 1.20 pounds per bottle. "American media also jumped up:" The magazine "Chip" was reported: "Weinmachine for the kitchen." N24 reported, Munich "Merkur" and the "BZ ".


Well, why should not James and Boyer believe?


Maybe because it sounds too good to be true?


In fact, the Miracle machine does not exist. It is only to draw attention to the charity organization of the two makers whose name is the opposite of what the Miracle Machine should do: "Wine to Water". The small aid organization wants to secure the water supply in poor regions, for example with the construction or repair of wells or the construction of rainwater filter systems. The wine-to-water names are less than a million dollars a year, but the venture is supported by PR agency MSL Group - and she designed the idea for the Miracle Machine campaign.

"It was madness, how big it was, and how fast it spread," James told the American Broadcast Network NPR, which was the first medium to declare the deception. The response in numerous tech blogs is likely to secure Wine to Water's attention as never before.


Alone: ​​American media who reported on the project did not correct their articles. Anyone who comes across the linked pages today will not find a word about the hoax.


Even more bitter it becomes for the "computer picture". She wrote on Sunday, when the US blogs had already made the fake public, and on the Miracle Machine's website the revelation of the fake was published: "With the Miracle Machine you make your own wine. Up from tap water - and one or two ingredients - a noble drop is created. " This was also not corrected three days later.