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Last week, models sat in the windows of Henri Bendel playing with Facebook in order to promote the department store's leap into the world of social networking. Today, we find out that the stunt was a hoax. Buried at the bottom of a New York Observer profile of one of the models—really an actress who's also done stints as a human statue—was this nugget of information:
It was, on the whole, a low-tech operation: Her laptop was fake. The sleek white prop had a Bendel logo in place of the Mac one, and the blue silhouette of Facebook anonymity on the screen. On the "keyboard" sat the handwritten notes she receives from Bendel's employees, which say things like "Watch out for this weird guy that keeps coming around."Sure, laptops are expensive, but they couldn't borrow one? We feel betrayed.
· In the Window: Hot Live Facebook Action at Bendel's [Racked]
· Bendel's Facebook Femme Unmasked! Go Ahead, Poke Cheery Erica Sweany [NYO]