BERLIN , Germany ( CNN ) -- A hoax video purporting to show Michael Jackson hopping out of a coroner 's van alive was produced by a German television station as an experiment , the broadcaster told CNN Monday . Michael Jackson was found dead on June 25 . He had been preparing for a comeback . It was made to show how easy it is to spread rumors online , said Heike Schultz , a spokeswoman for RTL , the leading private broadcaster in Germany . `` We sent out a press release before we did the video to alert everyone that it was fake , but once posted it spread really fast , '' she said . More than 880,000 people have clicked on the most popular version of the video on YouTube , posted by a user using the name `` michaeljacksonhoax '' under the title `` Michael Jackson alive ? ! Seen coming out of coroner 's van ! '' Nearly 3,600 people have commented on the video . `` All the moves , his posture , the stepping out of the van , looks like MJ . He steps out very cautious , like a moonwalk . Also the slowly walking is just like Michael did , '' one user wrote . `` I really hope he 's still alive ... .I could never forgive him for scaring me like that , but I could never hate him ... : ) , '' another said . Watch video of the hoax » . Not everyone was fooled . `` I would forgive Michael for anything because he is so super sexy but seriously guys he has passed , '' one user wrote . `` MJ has passed so leave him alone this movie is fake . R.I.P . Michael I love and miss u . '' A second version of the video , posted and annotated by `` MUZIKfactory2 '' to show inconsistencies , has been seen more than 329,000 times . Both versions were posted on August 25 . RTL produced the video for its daily magazine `` Explosive '' to tell people not to take information at face value , the station 's representative said . `` This was so obviously fake , in the case of Michael Jackson , it just was not possible , '' Schultz said . According to Schultz , some viewers have been happy that the magazine showed them how easy it was to fake information online . Others who were Michael Jackson fans have told RTL that this was the wrong topic to do this kind of experiment on . `` It was not a bad thing , since it was so obviously a fake . But it is now in our poison wardrobe and it wo n't be revived again , '' Schultz said . RTL said it removed the video from the Internet , but it can still be seen on YouTube . News of Jackson 's death on June 25 sparked something of a feeding frenzy on the Web , as many news Web sites struggled to cope with the sheer volume of traffic . With that came rumors that dragged in other celebrities completely unconnected to the `` King of Pop 's '' death . One Wikipedia prankster wrote that Jackson had been `` savagely murdered '' by his brother Tito , who had strangled him `` with a microphone cord . '' Soon rumors spread online that movie star Jeff Goldblum had fallen from the Kauri Cliffs in New Zealand while filming his latest movie . On several search engines , `` Jeff Goldblum '' soon became the only non-Jackson-related term to crop up in the top 10 . The rumors forced Goldblum 's publicist to issue a statement to media outlets , saying : `` Reports that Jeff Goldblum has passed away are completely untrue . He is fine and in Los Angeles . '' At the same time , Harrison Ford was also rumored to have fallen from a yacht off the south of France . CNN 's Per Nyberg in London , England and Frederik Pleitgen in Berlin , Germany , contributed to this report .
Video purportedly showed Michael Jackson hopping out of a coroner 's van . Score: 6 Video made to show how easy it is to spread rumors online . 880,000 people clicked on the most popular version of the video on YouTube . RTL : Video intended to tell people not to take information at face value .