It WAS too good to be true: The machine that 'turns water into wine' was a hoax (but it was all for charity)

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1 It WAS too good to be true: The machine that 'turns water into wine' was a hoax (but it was all for charity) The 'inventors' of The Miracle Machine spoke of turning water into wine in just three days It was actually a publicity stunt to draw attention to Wine to Water, a nonprofit that provides people with clean drinking water By JAMES GORDON PUBLISHED: 17:42 GMT, 15 March 2014 UPDATED: 19:58 GMT, 15 March 2014 If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But such sound advice escaped many people who were captivated by the idea that a machine could really turn water into wine in just three days. Turns out, such ideas are best left to the pages of The Bible when Jesus managed to do it with just the wave of his hand. The Miracle Machine was a fake. However, the publicity stunt was for a good cause. An organization called Wine To Water says it provides people around the world with access to clean water. Scroll down for video Remember this? The Miracle Machine that can make wine with water on your kitchen counter for $499 was a hoax

2 +5 Coming clean: Kevin Boyer and Philip James, the people behind the Miracle Machine hoax have explained that their device was made up and designed to generate interest in their charity winetowater.org 'Miracle Machine' that turned water into wine is a hoax The charity have apologized on their website but hope that their stunt has drawn attention to their cause.

3 'The Miracle Machine has generated enormous interest around the globe. We and supporters Kevin Boyer and Philip James are sorry to disappoint anyone who was looking forward to high quality wine in 3 days.' 'For the cost of a bottle of fine wine, we provide a way to produce 99.9% pure drinking water to a family for up to five years and THAT is the true miracle,' charity founder Doc Hendley said. If the aim was to generate interest for the organization, the trick worked as the phony miracle wine maker generated some 6,000 tweets with 7,000 people signing up to learn more about what would have been a revolutionary invention. 'One in eight people on the planet don't have the simple miracle of drinking clean water,' said Allen Peterson, CEO of Wine To Water. 'If we save one life because of the campaign, it has been worth it.' Miracle Machine! The gadget that literally turns water into WINE

4 +5 Elaborate hoax: The creators of the hoax came up with a complex process as to how the machine would work The organization did their level best to make the item appear genuine stating that it was developed by wine experts in California and capable of make different types and styles of wine, including Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Potential users were told that they could track the progress of their wine using a free smartphone app. The rest of us should have known that the people behind the fictional object were trying to blind the rest of the world with science. Their nonsensical description of how the machine operates is now comical when read in hindsight. 'A digital refractometer measures the sugar content of the liquid during the fermentation process, while an air-diffuser passes filtered air through a so-called micro-oxygenated channel.

5 +5 Miracle worker: Doc Hendley (center) is the founder and international president of Wine To Water. In 2003 Doc was living in Darfur, Sudan installing water systems for victims of the government supported genocide. He is flanked by PR agents Kevin Boyer and Philip James +5 Convincing: Thousands of people were duped along with several media outlets that the machine was genuine

6 The machine also has an ultrasonic transducer under the chamber that can speed up the flavor and development of the wine. Just like the miracle from Biblical times, it literally turns water into wine, with just the addition of a few ingredients in a fraction of the time and cost it would normally take, explained the 'CEO' Kevin Boyer. The campaign was thought up by public relations group MSL. Kevin Boyer and Philip James, both of CustomVine, said they knowingly put their reputations on the line to raise awareness for a cause they support. 'I would do it 100 times over again,' Boyer told the Los Angeles Times. 'Not the misleading and purposely being facetious, but if it saves one extra life, I'd do it again.' 'Almost two million children die each year from contaminated water and poor sanitation,' James. 'The miracle of turning water to wine might remain out of reach, but Wine to Water has shown that the real miracle of providing clean water is easily within our grasp.'