On Thursday, a man walked into an Apple Store in the Toison d'Or shopping center in Dijon, France, armed with an iron ball used in pétanque — a French sport similar to bocce — and began smashing up iPhones.
Un mec détruit un Apple Store avec une boule de pétanque PARTIE 1
For context, a typical regulation pétanque ball weighs anywhere between 650 and 800 grams.
Wearing sunglasses, dangling iPhone headphones, and a thick glove, the man went phone by phone crushing them with the large iron ball.
In a video filmed by a bystander, the man yells that his rights as a consumer had been violated by Apple.
Apple "violated my rights and refused to refund me in accordance to the European consumer protection law,” the man shouts.
“I warned them, I told them 'give me my money back,' but they said no," he says. "So what happens then? This is what happens."
This is what happens, apparently.
After a very long minute of the man causing damage, Toison d'Or security arrested the man. The bystander managed to film the arrest as well.
Un mec détruit un Apple Store avec une boule de pétanque PARTIE 2
The man's iPhone meltdowns have gone viral. Both videos have been retweeted several thousand times. A French comedy troupe parodied the video. In their version, a man goes into an iron ball store and tries to smash them with his phone.
À coups d'iPhone, un Français a détruit des boules de pétanque dans le Passion Pétanque de Dijon
Dear Apple, do NOT piss off French customers - this may happen. https://t.co/nW9MLO16Jh
les pro samsung on vous aime bien mais calmez vous quand meme https://t.co/fFXtoEsZEo
"The Samsung fans we like you but please chill."
According to Bien public, the local Dijon newspaper, the man was put in custody in the city's central police station on Thursday.
A police investigation has been opened. According to France Bleu Bourgogne, the cost of the damages caused were estimated to be as high as "several tens of thousands of euros."