The Great Amazon Heist

Oobah Butler, known for elaborate media pranks, sets out to test how easily a major online marketplace can be influenced. In The Great Amazon Heist he stages a deliberately provocative experiment, assembling a small team, manipulating attention signals and watching how the platform responds. The film follows the planning, the public-facing stunt and the aftermath, mixing interviews with merchants, platform analysts and people who unwittingly became part of the story. Butler keeps a jokey tone at times, but the footage uncovers unexpected weaknesses in systems we take for granted. The documentary aims to show how visibility is manufactured, how reputations can be shaped, and why that matters for ordinary sellers and buyers.

Released in 2023, The Great Amazon Heist was created by Oobah Butler with producers Dave Kneebone and Daniel Lucchesi, and it premiered at select festivals before wider availability via streaming and limited theatrical runs.

Box office information is scarce, since the film relied largely on festival screenings and streaming distribution rather than a wide theatrical rollout. Traditional global gross figures aren't widely reported, and most viewers have found it through digital platforms and on-demand services.

The film generated online discussion about how easily reviews, rankings and discoverability can be gamed, and it inspired think pieces about platform responsibility. It amplified conversations about algorithmic opacity and the power imbalance between large tech companies and small sellers, and it became a reference point in debates about online trust and influence.

Reception has leaned positive among viewers who appreciate the mix of humor and investigative reporting, reflected in a modest user score of 7.0/10 here. Critics and audiences have praised its provocative premise while some raised ethical questions about the methods used. Key themes include corporate accountability, media manipulation, the economics of attention and the fragility of reputational systems.