Remember last month, when a surge of viral videos made us all wonder how you could pop popcorn with cell phones? It was quickly discovered that the campaign was created to promote Cardo Systems’s line of Bluetooth headsets, but there were no answers as to how they were actually performing the trick (just theories that required disassembling your microwave). That is, until today, when CNN turned its attentions to the phenomenon.

If you can make it through CNN’s lowest-common-denominator coverage (please, Jason Carroll, explain again what a viral video is?), Cardo Systems CEO Abraham Glezerman explains the trickery behind the hoax. Here’s a handy guide to the Cardo-approved method, in five easy steps:

1. Set the scene: unpopped kernels, cell phones of various makes and models, giggling teenagers
2. Air-pop a few popcorn kernels on your stove
3. While filming, drop the popped kernels onto the table from above
4. Digitally erase the unpopped kernels from the footage, and add sound effects
5. Upload, and get ready to sell some Bluetooth headsets

Despite not believing it from the beginning, I’m still a little sad to learn that a cool visual effect was faked. What’s next — Matt Harding admits to blue-screening his way around the world? Say it ain’t so.