HouseholdHacker is an inactive

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel that posted videos of various "hacks", or quick solutions to common everyday problems. As of July 2022, the channel has 4.87 million subscribers and over 929 million views. The group is primarily known for its 2007

hoax A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. S ...

video which claimed one could charge an iPod battery using an onion and

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...

. The video fooled normally reliable sources, and drew the attention of the

MythBusters ''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television series created by Peter Rees (producer), Peter Rees and produced by Beyond International in Australia. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast in ...

among others. A few additional hoax videos followed, but drew less attention.

Background

According to the HouseholdHacker YouTube channel page: "At HouseholdHacker, we solve your common everyday problems and create things utilizing items you find around your house. You might say we try to bring out the MacGyver in all of us. From kitchen hacks and tricks to getting rid of ants; we do it all." HouseholdHacker was started by Dylan Hart and Traveler. HouseholdHacker was launched in November 2007 and quickly attracted interest, becoming YouTube's most subscribed channel for the month of December 2007. By January 2009, HouseholdHacker was the 22nd most subscribed YouTube channel. , they have over 4.96 million subscribers. In November 2022, that number fell to 4.85 million subscribers.

iPod Onion

In November 2007, HouseholdHacker released a video entitled "How to Charge an iPod using electrolytes and an onion." The video, which claimed to demonstrate how one could recharge an

iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...

using little more than

and a

white onion White onion or '' Allium cepa'' (“sweet onion”) are a cultivar of dry onion which have a distinct light and mild flavour profile. Much like red onions, they have a high sugar and low sulphur content, and thus have a relatively short shelf li ...

, was an overnight success. The video drew the attention of The Unofficial Apple Weblog, which reported it as fact. Within its first week, the video had been viewed over 4 million times. By the following November, the video had been viewed more than 7 million times (currently over 10 million) and attracted the attention of

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

, who asked "Can an Onion Charge an iPod?" ABC put the video to the test, but failed to obtain the promised result. Reporter Emily Friedman remarked "this appears to be an iFraud." The TV show

also put the onion video to the test in 2008. In a segment dubbed " iOnion,"

Grant Imahara Grant Masaru Imahara (October 23, 1970 – July 13, 2020) was an American electrical engineer, roboticist, and television host. He was best known for his work on the television series ''MythBusters'', on which he designed, built, and opera ...

was unable to get any charge from the onion setup found in the HouseholdHacker video. He explained that the setup lacked the crucial

anode An anode usually is an electrode of a polarized electrical device through which conventional current enters the device. This contrasts with a cathode, which is usually an electrode of the device through which conventional current leaves the devic ...

and

cathode A cathode is the electrode from which a conventional current leaves a polarized electrical device such as a lead-acid battery. This definition can be recalled by using the mnemonic ''CCD'' for ''Cathode Current Departs''. Conventional curren ...

that would be required to get the

electrolyte An electrolyte is a substance that conducts electricity through the movement of ions, but not through the movement of electrons. This includes most soluble Salt (chemistry), salts, acids, and Base (chemistry), bases, dissolved in a polar solven ...

s found in Gatorade moving and concluded the video was a complete hoax. In an interview with ABCNews,

Adam Savage Adam Whitney Savage (born July 15, 1967) is an American special effects designer and manufacturer, fabricator, actor, educator, television personality, and producer, best known as the former co-host, with Jamie Hyneman, of the Discovery Channe ...

called the video "complete horse shit."

Appeal

The iPod onion video fooled a number of normally savvy folks, or at least had them trying the technique out for themselves, which has led to several theories as to why it was so appealing. Farhad Manjoo of

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

speculated that it was the style in which the video was delivered. "He's got a friendly, helpful voice, but he's not casual – he speaks in the formal, confident manner of a TV how-to guy," says Manjoo. Anna Solana of

La Vanguardia ' (; , ) is a Spanish daily newspaper founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan. It has its headquarters in Barcelona and is Catalonia's leading newspaper. Despite being mostly distributed in Catalonia, ...

, on the other hand, speculated that it was the "science" itself that attracted the viewers, remarking that something so magical "freaks" people out and makes them want to believe.

Follow-up videos

Following the iPod onion video, HouseholdHacker has released a number of videos that have generated some attention. A March 2008 video entitled "How to Cheat on any Test" has attracted 8 million views and the ire of some school teachers. Another video entitled "How to Create a High-Def speaker for under a buck" again drew the attention of the show ''MythBusters''.

Tory Belleci Salvatore Paul Belleci ( ; born October 30, 1970) is an American television personality and model maker, best known for his work on the Discovery Channel television program ''MythBusters''. He has also worked with Industrial Light and Magic on fi ...

followed the instructions in the video, but when it came time to plug in the speakers nothing happened. In addition to disproving the video, he pointed out that the "under a buck" part of the claim was also false, noting that a single minijack alone typically costs about $10 retail. However, it is possible to get minijack cables for under a dollar online.

Death of channel creator

On February 28, 2021, Scott Kinmartin, the lead content producer for the channel, announced in a since-removed video that Dylan Hart died on November 6, 2020. Hart was 38 years old. According to Kinmartin on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, Hart died due to "medical complications".

References

{{reflist English-language YouTube channels YouTube channels launched in 2007 YouTube channels