Research in Motion on Tuesday confirmed that it was behind the "Wake Up" protest held at a Sydney, Australia Apple Store.
"We can confirm that the Australian 'Wake Up' campaign, which involves a series of experiential activities taking place across Sydney and Melbourne, was created by RIM Australia," the company said in a statement. "A reveal will take place on May 7th that will aim to provoke conversation on what 'being in business' means to Australians."
A website - wake-up-australia.com.au - currently features a number counting down from about 4.2 million, but provides no other details.
As noted by Australian blogger Nate "Blunty" Burr, who posted video of the incident (below), a large black bus with the words "WAKE UP" affixed to the outside pulled up outside the Apple Store on April 22. Individuals dressed in black carrying "WAKE UP" signs quickly poured out of the bus and started chanting the phrase in front of the Apple Store.
"Apple staff stared out the window with generally blank looks on their face, and no one had much of an idea about what the bloody hell was going on," said the blogger, who was later asked to stop filming inside the store.
When the video hit the Web, some bloggers assumed that Samsung was behind the stunt, given that it has launched some high-profile, anti-Apple ad campaigns in recent months. The company, however, denied any involvement.
James Croft of MacTalk later noticed the source code for the Wake Up page led back to the RIM AU website, prompting questions about whether RIM had orchestrated the campaign.
MacTalk's sister site, Macworld Australia, suggested that Burr might have been in on the campaign given that he "worked with BlackBerry in the past." But in a video posted on his blog today, Burr said that is "pure fiction."
"I have never been an employee of that company," he said.
RIM did not elaborate on what its "reveal" might entail. Officials are currently busy showing off the latest BlackBerry 10 operating system at BlackBerry World in Orlando.
In Australia, meanwhile, consumer groups are currently at odds with Apple over the 4G designation on its new iPad. For more on that, see Apple Discovers 4G Nonsense Stops at U.S. Border.