Qubo's fake shutdown hoax

WARNING: This article is NSFW/NSFL. It may contain content disturbing or unsettling to some readers.

On February 27, 2021, regarding Qubo's shut down by the E.W Scripps Company, a video was recorded by Splatkid802 productions #savequbo, where during Qubo's final minutes before it shut down, it contained a scene full of characters from shows that aired on Qubo, giving a message saying "Your favorite Qubo characters need YOUR help! At 11:59 pm EST, Qubo will cease operations unless $2,500.00 can be raised by viewers like you. Call [tel:(248)&#x20;434-5508 (248) 434-5508] and donate now!". After that, each character gets their heads or faces torn off while gunshots are heard every time. After all the characters were killed, a final message consists of how ungrateful viewers were and that they didn't help save Qubo before it shut down, ending with a final message "This is your fault." and "Thanks for nothing."

Why We Should Be Glad This is a Hoax

 * 1) The idea of making a disturbing sequence of a channel's shutdown especially on a children's network is just mentally insane.
 * 2) As they contain characters from shows that aired on Qubo, shows like VeggieTales, Rupert, My Friend Rabbit, The Magic School Bus Rides Again, Pippi Longstocking, Postman Pat and its spinoff Guess with Jess, Inspector Gadget, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, etc, seeing all of them get murdered is obviously very disturbing, shocking, and also traumatizing for you and your childhood.
 * 3) *The sound effects, which are gunshots and gun cocking, kind of make no sense because the characters' faces look like they were burnt or ripped apart, a bullet wouldn't do THAT much damage to their face or head. Even if it was a shotgun, surely a shot that blasts all of their face apart would also damage the skull underneath.
 * 4) *Most of the characters are from shows that Qubo lost rights to years ago since this video was in 2021, so it might be for nostalgic reasons, but viewers who were new to Qubo at the time and/or have never done any research on the network might get confused. It also includes Bob the Tomato from VeggieTales, a show that Qubo lost rights to in 2009!
 * 5) **Viewers really don't even wanna see them get shot or tortured like that, even if they hate the characters. Jay Jay the Jet Plane, for instance, although he may look ugly and terrifying (especially to children), he never actually did anything to deserve this!
 * 6) ***Moreover, characters like Bob the Tomato, Olly the Submarine and Jay Jay the Jet Plane aren't animals, but when they get shot, their skulls are shown, which makes NO sense. Tomatoes, jet planes and submarines don't have bones.
 * 7) ****Not to mention save for Bob, Olly and Jay Jay are 9 and 6, respectively, so them getting shot is just completely unrealistic.
 * 8) The music used for the screen, "Final Hours" from mh:awesomegames:The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, would be seen as plagiarism and might get Qubo sued, boring another hole in the legitimacy of the screen.
 * 9) The phone number to "rescue Qubo", [tel:(248)&#x20;434-5508 (248) 434-5508], as evidenced by people who dialed this number, is just the audio from "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley.
 * 10) The final messages after the deaths of the characters were not only creepy and upsetting, but also insulting to Qubo viewers because it blames them, saying "This is your fault" and saying that they were selfish and neglectful to Qubo for not saving it, and says "Thanks for nothing" at the end. Hey, your phone number to "save Qubo" was just a Rick roll, what did you expect??
 * 11) The point where it asked for a donation of $2,500 to save the network, a channel like Qubo would NEVER ask (let alone beg) for money, let alone two and a half thousand dollars, especially for television network standards.
 * 12) Many people pointed out this scene in the footage filmed by Splatkid802 was very fake because Qubo would never do any of the reasons listed above, and Qubo's final footage uploaded by other people are different told stories. Qubo was already shut down early on cable TV providers and was completely shut down during an airing of Inspector Gadget in which there was only a blank screen for hours. It was even explained by superkeegan9100 on the Qubo Wiki that this disturbing footage was fake. But some of the video's comments were saying that they had seen this shutdown on live television.
 * 13) *On that note, the final messages also have laughably bad grammar including the use of "selflessness" (when it clearly means "selfishness").
 * 14) If this was real, ION and Scripps would’ve gotten in serious trouble, and several things would happen:
 * 15) *They would face a hefty fine from the FCC (Federal Communications Commission).
 * 16) *They could also potentially get sued by Nintendo for the use of their music without permission.
 * 17) *The designer would either spend a long time in jail or a mental asylum.
 * 18) *People (especially children) would be struck with PTSD or other mental disorder and be glad that Qubo is gone.
 * 19) The characters are smiling like they won the lottery or found a golden ticket in their Wonka bar, not even reacting when someone directly next to them is slaughtered.
 * 20) *Additionally, when they get shot, they don't go limp and crash to the ground like you'd expect. Their body just stays upright, some with their arms out, and then they fade away.
 * 21) The images of the characters are just PNG files that can be found within the first five pictures when you look the respective character up on Google Images.
 * 22) The red, cloudy void seen in the background is a default plugin for Adobe Premiere Pro.
 * 23) The entire scenario is basically a four-minute long sequence of attempted jump scares.
 * 24) The twist upon calling the number in the video detailed below would serve as a great punchline to the joke, but the uploader insists the video is real to this day.

The Only Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) The error, despite being fake, is actually well done.
 * 2) At least Litton Entertainment had nothing to do with it.

What Actually Happened
The channel shut down during an episode of Inspector Gadget/Franklin. (depending on what you use when watching this)


 * An instant channel switch (Cable)
 * Sudden cut to black screen and nothing but that and the screen bug for a few hours (Free TV)

And something more (but none of them is this)

Videos (WARNING: DISTURBING Content)
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