PC component manufacturer Corsair is standing up to those who would abuse graphics cards by using them to mine Bitcoin-like cryptocurrencies … or at least it is pretending to do that for an April Fool’s Day joke.
On Corsair’s YouTube page, the company has uploaded a video titled “Stop GPU Abuse! #GPURESCUE.” This is a reference to ads for charity organizations like the ASPCA or the “Save the Ethiopian Children Campaign.” In those TV spots, musician Sarah McLachlan would explain just how bad things are for certain animals or actress Sally Struthers would walk along a street in Ethiopia. Corsair’s 70-second clip echoes that style with the stark text that highlights bleak facts and a somber backing soundtrack.
“Over 3 million graphics cards are sold to cryptocurrency miners every year,” the video explains in its intro. “Graphics cards that should be gaming are abused in the cryptocurrency mines.”
Corsair claims that if you donate, you can help be an angel who saves a video card from a cryptocurrency mining rig. With your help, the card will end up inside a gaming PC, just like god intended. You’ll even get a picture of the GPU that you adopted.
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The video ends with the methods by which you can give money, which include major credit cards, Paypal, and … Bitcoin.
Of course, this is all a gag. Crypto-mining is a serious problem that has driven up the cost of GPUs for the last year with no signs of stopping, but Corsair is not going to take your money to buy them back.
