Social media star Jamie Zhu investigates whether Bundaberg is ‘Australia’s Rudest Town’?
A self proclaimed public figure and videographer with almost 10 million social media followers has taken to the streets of Bundaberg to confirm if it really is the rudest town in Australia and the results are hilarious. Watch the video.
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Social media videographer and influencer Jamie Zhu has taken to the streets of Bundaberg to determine if it really is the rudest town in Australia, and the results are hilarious.
Zhu has made a career out of visiting cities and towns across Australia and the world, interviewing locals and investigating if the areas he visits live up to the badges of honour or dishonour they’ve been branded with.
He has visited “Adelaide's Most Expensive Area” and “Australia’s Most Dangerous Suburbs” and shot videos amassing hundreds of thousands of views from his social media following which reaches almost 10 million.
Bundaberg was labelled Australia’s rudest town after 22 of Australia’s largest metropolitan cities were surveyed by Prereply, with Bundaberg locals given a 5.81 out of 10 rudeness ranking.
His most recent video shot in the Bundaberg CBD asks locals their opinion on the city’s so-called reputation for rudeness.
It starts with Zhu asking several pedestrians in Bourbong St questions about the city, with many of them avoiding him or telling him to “f--k off”.
Those who did participate generally agreed Bundaberg was not the friendliest town, with some saying the area’s drug issue was a main contributor to the negative vibe.
After interviewing quite a few colourful pedestrians, Zhu conducted a number of “tests” to see just how nice people really were or were not.
The first test was a traffic merging test - a test Bundaberg drivers failed.
In his second test, Zhu visits McDonald’s to see if people will give him some cash to buy a meal, claiming he had lost his wallet.
Several people were filmed shaking their head, or saying no. But let’s remember there is a cost-of-living crisis.
In the third and final test, Zhu throws himself to the floor in a crowded Hinkler shopping centre to see if anyone will help him up.
Apparently, Bundaberg locals have better things to do than help a young, fit, healthy bloke up off the ground when a camera is filming him from a few metres away.
However, one commenter on the Facebook video, which has been viewed more than 363,000 times, questioned the authenticity of the 10-minute video, claiming “Omg that guy fell in front of me in Hinkler”.
“I was in my work uniform. I asked him if he needed help.
“Maybe that’s why I’m not on his video lol. Because I actually tried to help him.”
Another called out the upfront filming style Jamie Zhu used to capture his content.
“Maybe they are just rude to people shoving unsolicited cameras in their face,” the commenter said.
“Many normal real people would tell you to get lost too, because they simply aren’t interested in you or your video.”
According to the video and the tests, 66 per cent of Bundaberg locals are rude, and 44 per cent are nice (for everyone confused, yes that does add up to 110 per cent).
All in all though, Zhu concluded Bundaberg might not deserve its title as the rudest town in Australia.
Only one week earlier Bundaberg was named Australia’s Most Generous City by the world leading fundraiser platform GoFundMe.
And while the region is undoubtedly struggling against a housing and cost-of-living crisis, a local advocacy group is giving up their Christmas Day to host a generous and free festive lunch for the region’s most vulnerable.
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Originally published as Social media star Jamie Zhu investigates whether Bundaberg is ‘Australia’s Rudest Town’?