Having a smashing time on YouTube

Jon Bentley delves into the phenomenon of things being deliberately destroyed on the internet – but is it all harmless fun and games?

- Jon Bentley

Is the practice of destroying things for fun in YouTube videos getting out of hand?

We've all seen those jolly exercises where a cheerful chap from a blender manufacturer asks 'Will it blend?' before depositing a mobile phone or some golf balls into one of his company's products.

Likewise we've probably watched something from the amusing Hydraulic Press Channel, with 19.4 million subscribers, that shows what happens to everything from a Nokia 3310 to a Furby when it's subjected to 440 tonnes of pressure.

All pretty innocent stuff. But these days such efforts seem rather tame. YouTube, as well as Instagram and TikTok, now have countless channels where people seem intent on destroying prestige cars. Porsches, BMWs and Lamborghinis are all routinely wrecked for clicks and, one imagines, profit.