(mouse clicking)
- So, I've seen a bunch
of these portable AC ads
and click bait articles pop up
in the last two to three weeks or so.
And, some of my viewers have
reported the same thing.
Whether you've seen them or not,
I just wanna let you know,
particularly pertaining
to the Blaux brand,
it's all a bunch of crap.
The business is shady and
people are starting to catch on.
So, just like I did with
the Lit Mobile saga,
let's bust this scam wide open.
(electronic music)
Hey guys, how are you all doin'?
Really? That's just great.
You know, I'm doin'
pretty great today too.
I'm just a little bit hot and
it's gettin' warm down here,
and I can really use
some air conditioning.
But guess what?
My iPhone must have known that.
It must have read my mind
and knew that I was hot,
because I started getting a bunch of ads
for portable air
conditioner units recently.
And to the best of my recollection,
most of them,
if not all of them,
pointed to one brand called Blaux.
Ooh, Blaux.
We're gettin' all French
and fancy now, huh?
But it doesn't matter how fancy you sound.
You're just polishing a turd.
So, sit back and relax,
because the deeper I get into this story,
the crazier it gets.
Oh yeah,
and this company also stole
footage from this documentary,
claiming that this kid revolutionized
the multi-billion dollar air con industry.
Pretty crazy.
But, we'll talk about that in a bit.
First, let's take a look at
what the product claims it can do,
and then we're gonna blow
the top off this scam.
Get it?
Blaux.
Let's begin.
The Blaux claims to be a portable AC.
Let's get this clear from the get go.
We're not talkin' about
portable air conditioners
like you see on wheels
with a hose out the window.
That's different.
This is a tiny box that sits on a table.
The product says it can cool a room,
filter dust particles, and humidify.
It also can run on battery
and charges through USB.
Okay. so far so good.
But, here's where I
started having problems.
The product is constantly
advertised as an AC.
Most people, when they think of AC,
think air conditioner.
So, I have no doubt in my
mind that people will think,
"Wow, this thing can cool
the room and it's that small?
Sign me up!"
(cash register ringing)
So yes, this can trick consumers at first,
but I'm sure they'll figure out
how disappointing it is really fast.
Anyway, when you dig
into the website more,
you'll see it's actually
more of an air cooler AC,
not an air conditioner AC.
Kind of deceiving.
You could maybe say that this Blaux thing
is technically an AC.
But honestly,
when you ask most people here,
ask 10 engineers what the components
of an air conditioner are.
They will list stuff that is
not in this Blaux product,
like a condenser, or a
compressor, or an evaporator.
You know,
the things that an actual
air conditioner uses
to cool a room.
This Blaux thing doesn't
have any of that stuff.
"Technology Connections"
actually did a great video
about air conditioning,
so I highly recommend you check that out.
I also have some other
links to other AC videos
in the description,
so check those out too.
Oh, and look,
I got an ad for the Blaux product
on "Technology Connections" video.
Nice star ad?
I have no idea.
Anyway, here's a quick rundown about
how air conditioners work.
You can't just create
cold air out of nothing.
Cold air is the result
of less heat energy.
So, an air conditioner tries to absorb
that heat energy out of your
room and radiate it outside.
Generally,
a home appliance air conditioner
has three main parts.
A compressor, the pressure increaser,
a condenser, the heat
rejecter or radiator,
and an evaporator, the heat absorber.
The lifeblood of an air
conditioner is the refrigerant,
and it is recycled through a series
of valves and coils by the compressor.
Now, not all ACs use liquid refrigerant.
Sometimes they use only gas.
But for this example,
let's use liquid to make a distinction.
In liquid state,
the refrigerant has a low boiling point.
The atmospheric pressure inside the coils,
which are inside your room,
turn it into a gas easily.
During this phase change
from liquid to gas,
heat energy is absorbed into the gas,
meaning there's less heat
energy left in the room
and less heat energy around
the coils in the evaporator.
Have you ever sprayed canned air
and then noticed the can gettin' cold?
A similar principle applies here.
As the air exits the can,
the pressure inside the can lowers,
cooling the contents inside.
So, back in the air conditioner,
after this cooler air is created,
a fan blows it into the room.
So, now your room is cool
and everybody's happy, right?
Wrong.
The laws of physics are not happy.
One, where did that heat go?
It has to go somewhere.
And two, how will more of that
refrigerant be regenerated?
The refrigerant needs to be recycled.
Otherwise it would eventually run out
and the air conditioner would
just turn into a big fan,
defeating the purpose of it.
So, the compressor re-compresses
the previously created hot
gas into a superheated vapor.
As this vapor exits the compressor
and flows through the
coils in the condenser,
the condenser's heat sinks
help transfer heat out
of the refrigerant,
and a fan blows that
excess hot air outside.
As the heat is transferred out,
the vapor is condensed back
into a liquid refrigerant
and the cycle starts over again.
Yeah, the Blaux Portable AC
doesn't do any of that stuff.
It's an air cooler,
not an air conditioner.
It will not cool a room as
fast as an air conditioner can,
and it will not be able to cool
as much volume as an air conditioner can,
and it will not be able
to bring the temperature
of a room down as low
as a typical air conditioner can as well.
So, it really doesn't match up,
like what this company is claiming.
But honestly,
there are some pros to
this type of device.
One, it's cheaper,
and two, it doesn't
require any installation.
But, there's trade offs with that.
So generally speaking,
no one would call this
device an air conditioner.
It doesn't really make any sense.
But, what is it called then?
Well, depending on where you're from,
you may have heard it
called different names,
but I've commonly heard it
referred to as a swamp cooler.
What's a swamp cooler?
Well, I'm glad you asked.
Since swamp coolers don't use compressors,
or evaporators,
or condensers like an
air conditioner does,
it has to use a different
method for cooling.
In this case,
a user pours water into the appliance.
The water's dripped over a fibrous pad
and recirculated by a pump.
A blower pulls in hot air from the intake,
and as the hot air passes through the pad,
it evaporates the water,
which cools the air,
and then this cooler air is
blown out the front vent.
So in short,
a swamp cooler is a watered down,
pun 100% intended,
air conditioner.
But there's nothing
really wrong with that.
Like, they can still work.
They absolutely can still work,
and there are pros to them.
So, what's the big problem here?
Well, for starters,
people who are ordering the Blaux
are not receiving their orders.
Yeah, that's a quick way to stir up anger
and get a lot of dissatisfied customers.
But, it's a little hard for
me to pick apart this issue
and critique it,
because to be fair,
yes, we're going through
a pandemic right now
and the pandemic will
cause shipping delays.
But, I feel like companies
are just using that as an excuse a lot,
particularly these
companies that are probably
not really shipping the
product in the first place.
So, for all intents and purposes,
I'm going to ignore that problem for now.
But, there's a bigger issue
I have with this company.
It's how they're advertising the product.
I already talked about
how they're overselling it
and makin' it seem like it's a competitor
to an air conditioner
even though it's not,
but there's a lot more
shady stuff goin' on here.
Checkin' out their website.
I already get turned off
by these scarcity banners,
just like on the Lit Mobile website.
Yeah, I'm sure that offer will
be taken down at any moment.
Mm hmm.
Another red flag is the imagery.
Poorly photoshopped product photos
are an immediate no go for me.
So, keep an eye out for those.
To give them credit,
at least in this section of the website,
they show that it's
essentially a swamp cooler
that you have to refill with water.
So hopefully, that can
get some expectations set.
But when I called the company,
the representative said it
works like an air conditioner.
I don't know what the legal definition
of like air conditioner is,
but like, is it,
does it actually work like
really well, like a really--
- [Woman] It works like
an air conditioner.
- [Ken] Okay.
- [Woman] (indistinct) to
work like an air condition.
- [Ken] Does it have like a,
I'm not an electrical expert.
So, I'm just curious before
I buy one for my office.
- [Woman] Okay.
- [Ken] Does it have like
a compressor inside it
like a normal air conditioner?
- [Woman] No?
Compressor?
No, I don't think so.
I think it just adds,
they can put water if
there's example worker.
So, once water is there,
it blows like an air conditioner.
When there's no water,
it blows like a normal fan.
- [Ken] Okay, so you
pour water into it, yeah?
- [Woman] Yeah, you
pour water into it, yes.
- Okay.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure we already proved
that it doesn't work
like an air conditioner.
You don't have to pour refrigerant
into your air conditioner constantly.
Maybe unless it was having a
significant leaking problem.
But hey,
at least Blaux answered the phone.
That's one, nothing, Lit Mobile.
Your move.
Anyway, below that part
is a review section.
Of course,
with a review from Karen.
This user meter kind of looks like
it's a real time display of user ratings.
But don't be fooled.
This is just an image.
It is not a real time
display of true ratings.
Also, these fake loading bars.
Oh my gosh.
They just make me wanna
punch the universe.
Oh, let's also not forget
tons of sock puppet
Twitter accounts who are trying
to say good things about Blaux.
The accounts usually have generic names
and profile pictures,
and usually have a small follower account.
Suspicious.
Okay, so now let's talk
about the affiliate videos.
Brace yourselves,
because these are pretty bad.
First off,
can we talk about these
horrible thumbnails?
I mean, good gravy,
what the hell am I looking at?
What's weird is that
multiple different channels
with multiple different voiceover talents
are using the same thumbnail design.
Hmm, it's almost as if there's
a single person pulling the strings.
Yeah, and I'm fairly certain
the speaker in this video
is not the chick in the video's thumbnail.
- [Man] In this Blaux Portable AC review,
I'll be giving you both the pros and cons
to using this popular air conditioner,
so you can find out if it's
actually any good or not.
- Overall, these videos are crap quality.
They reuse poorly looped footage.
And to me,
it really just seems like someone
is sending these people a written script
and some generic video footage,
and they just get to
use whatever they want
to hodgepodge a review video,
with plenty of ums and ahs.
- [Man] The um, unit.
Um, uh.
Mili... amp, rating, battery,
plug it into a USB regular.
Um.
- I don't know.
Maybe I need to cut him a break.
Maybe he was an airline pilot.
This particular video doesn't even show
the same product consistently.
The B-roll keeps changing to
other types of air coolers.
Red flag, red flag, red frickin' flag.
Don't trust a review video
that doesn't show the reviewer's face.
You need to see the product
and the person's face
in the same shot to really
drive home that legitimacy.
Otherwise, don't trust it.
Wait, hang on.
I'm getting reports that
this reviewer actually showed
her face in a video.
Oh, hey, that's great Blaux.
Well, let's take a look.
- Hi, welcome to my
Blaux Portable AC review.
Blow Portable AC
is a remarkable space
saving air conditioner
that is easy to operate
and can be optimized
as per your cooling requirements.
- Okay, all right.
It's pretty clear.
She's just reading from
a prefabricated script.
And again,
you don't see the product
in the whole video.
You don't even see like a B-roll shot
of the product in the whole video.
Hang on.
I recently found an ad that actually shows
the reviewer's face and the
product in the same shot.
Well, Blaux!
It looks like you're learning.
You might've done something right.
- [Woman] Oh my God.
My Blaux Portable AC
finally came in today.
- Okay, she didn't pronounce
the name of the company, right?
Blau.
I guess it's better than blocks.
Well anyway, let's see who you are,
Summer Gears.
Oh, well that's a really nice
watermarked profile picture.
Why do I do this to myself?
My hypothesis is,
all these people are really
just trying to make a quick buck
by being affiliates.
Also, this other
Blaux reviewer appears to
have changed its channel
from Keto recipes to Blaux reviews.
Talk about a pivot.
Also, why do these two
Blaux related channels
have the same number of subscribers?
Coincidence?
I think not!
Thanks for that one, Pixar.
Anyway, we're just getting started.
Now we come to my favorite part
of this whole frickin' scam,
the backstory behind the product.
I first saw a story that
claimed top Hong Kong engineers
invent the world's coldest,
tiny portable AC.
That headline already
trips my bull detectors,
but let's press on.
I Googled the headline and sure enough,
multiple sites used the same
copy in their headlines.
Maybe that's because they
all point to buyblaux.com.
Red flag.
The article also shows a
photo of the product next
to this alleged engineer, I'm assuming.
But they never say the guy's name,
nor do they list any
of the other engineers names on the team,
nor do they cite any sources.
If a company is really gonna lie
about the backstory behind a product,
don't buy from them.
We're just getting started.
I know I've said that a lot,
but it just keeps getting better.
This next story,
it kind of infuriates me.
I'm not gonna lie.
It kinda makes me lose
all faith in humanity.
(exhaling deeply)
This next story is
about a boy named Billy.
Billy is featured in this video,
which was likely promoted
as an ad on Facebook
and it started floating around.
It was uploaded by Samo4river.
Okay, okay, okay,
hang on.
How, sidetracking for a second here.
How the heck did anyone fall for this?
Look at the profile picture of this user.
It's a vintage photo of a
small child in a costume.
Like, that's some like serial killer-level
(beep) right there.
That's creepy.
Out of curiosity,
I reverse searched the image
and found lots of Chinese websites.
I also searched their name and found lots
of links to portable ACs.
Big surprise.
Okay, so Samo4river really gets around,
especially in the air cooling industry.
I guess.
They also have a website which features,
guess what?
Portable air cooler units,
along with a bunch of other junk.
Choose a sweet gift for your lover.
Anyway, let's get back to Billy.
Poor Billy is a 15 year old orphan
who grew up in Albuquerque.
Armed with his high IQ,
he invented a device that destroyed
the billion dollar air con industry.
He brought it to school one day
and the device cooled
the room from 95 degrees to just
65 degrees in only six minutes.
An investor gave him $2.5 million
to produce this device,
and they called it Blaux.
(laughing)
Kevin.
Does anyone recognize that kid?
Billy's real name is Santiago Gonzalez.
He's in this Thinker
documentary that features him.
He's not an air conditioner maker,
he's a software developer.
Also, that device they show me the video
is just a liquid cooled PC.
Come on, Blaux.
You're just embarrassing yourselves.
I also love how this fake video
shows all of these quotes,
but they never actually show
anybody talking audibly.
And, wait a sec.
That guy looks familiar.
Hey Veo,
analyze that image.
- [Veo] Analyzing image.
Here is the result.
- Of course, it's Guido,
the guy that made Python.
Oh, that makes so much more sense.
For a second, I thought
he was some professor
that was fascinated by Billy's
air conditioner adventures.
Thanks for clearin' that up for me.
Where would I be without you, Veo?
- [Veo] You would be nowhere.
I own you now.
- Oh, thanks.
Well, that's a lovely sentiment.
I also saw this story uploaded
by Edealstar,
with the lovely description
of mini air conditioning,
fan water cooling,
small fan, small student,
portable USB dual battery,
rechargeable, dormitory,
bed, office, desktop,
ultra quiet, electric fan
cooling, cooler spray humidifier.
So, if Billy didn't make this product,
who did?
Well, a quick hit on
Alibaba shows the air cooler
is made or at least sold by Ehsan Traders,
and they're based in Pakistan by the way,
not Hong Kong.
So, there's clearly lots
of shady business
practices happening here.
Now that I'm armed with that information,
what is the next most
reasonable thing to do?
That's right.
I went ahead and bought one.
I truly want to review the
physical product once it comes.
I doubt it'll ever arrive,
but we'll see.
I called the company
and they gave me their
estimated delivery time.
What do you think the estimated
time would be to get it?
- [Woman] Probably four weeks.
- Then I completed my purchase,
after being stopped by a
popup post-transaction upsell.
Okay, two post-transaction ups,
wait three,
I mean, holy frick,
just stop already.
Alas, I finished the ordering process,
(duck quacking)
but I didn't receive
an email confirmation.
However, a couple hours later,
I received an email saying
my order wasn't complete
and that there were items in my cart.
The link in the email brought
me back to the purchase page.
However, my bank said the transaction
has already been started.
So, either Blaux was lying to me,
trying to make me purchase two units,
which wouldn't be a surprise,
or it was an honest glitch
with their emailing system.
So, will I receive it?
Heck, I don't know.
My expectations are low.
But, when I do, if I do get it,
I would love to review it.
So, stay tuned for that.
Also, if anything else
develops with this story,
I'll be glad to give you that info too.
But really, Blaux,
just seriously,
just sell the product for what it is.
Even if you didn't make it,
don't lie and BS people.
Just sell it for what it is, man.
There's nothin' wrong with that.
And also,
don't a kid's image to
fabricate your BS backstory.
That's just stupid.
You know, this stuff is really a shame,
because it makes me
more skeptical about all
of these types of products
that pop up online.
It sucks,
because I know there's people out there.
Real people that make real products
that wanna start a real business,
and have a successful Kickstarter campaign
and a successful marketing campaign.
I get it.
But wow,
it's just harder and harder
to believe this stuff now.
So, I'm not saying just ignore everything,
because I still want those great,
real legitimate products to succeed.
All I'm saying is think twice,
maybe even three times,
before you share an ad on Facebook
and then press the buy
button five minutes later.
So, stay tuned for more,
and I also want to give a
special thanks to Rich Tatum
for helping me write this episode.
So, thank you very much.
Also, if any of you guys
want to support the channel
and get some other cool stuff from myself
and from the Computer Clan,
feel free to click the
join button below the video
or with the link in the description.
And if you like the video,
you know what to do.
Thanks for stickin' with me,
catch the crazy, and pass it on.
(upbeat electronic music)
(mouse clicking)
