Cheap gadget unboxing videos

You’ve no doubt seen ads for cheap toys and gadgets from China that look almost magical — the videos show things like a serrated knife that effortlessly shreds vegetables, or a tiny drone that flies way up in the air and shoots cinematic video. I’ll admit I’ve been tricked into buying these kinds of things only to discover they are junk. There’s an Instagram influencer named KYD who has amassed an audience of 13 million followers by unboxing items from these ads and testing whether they work as promised. Most are worthless, but about one in ten actually perform as promised. The videos are short and addictive. I watched for an hour straight. — MF