pranks

It's probably a bad idea to market to consumers by tricking them with practical jokes. It's definitely a bad idea to make a consumer fear for her safety over a five day period because she thinks a stalker is coming after her. That's why a woman in Los Angeles is suing Toyota for $10 million after being on the receiving end of a Punk'd-style stunt to promote the Toyota Matrix.  More »

This will probably come as a surprise to no one, but the fake McDonalds memo that went viral last month was written by David Thorne, the same guy who tried to pay for a bill with a drawing of a spider. He is a very silly man.  More »

Mickey D's down under wants everyone to know that the parody McDonald's letter making the rounds is indeed prankaliscious. Corporate Communications Manager Bronwyn Stubbs writes:  More »

Note: This memo is a parodic spoof.  More »

Remember that Domino's Pizza, the one in North Carolina where Kristy and Michael recorded themselves doing gross things to the food? The Charlotte Observer has reported that the location has gone out of business, at least for now—"closed signs have been placed in the windows and the phone has been disconnected."  More »

Those wily Yes Men, pranksters of the business and political worlds and comedy documentarians who masquerade as big business honchos to create "gotcha!" moments, were gotten themselves by the cops when they tried to disrupt the U.N. Security Council Summit.  More »

What do you do with your pennies? Consumer Reports suggests saving them and depositing them in your bank, or exchanging them for a full-value gift certificate in a Coinstar machine. But Jordan had a much better idea. He tried to use them to pay the impound fee after his car was towed. Video inside. Remember: it's not a real prank until the cops show up.  More »

John Hargrave of comedy site Zug.com tracked down the personal info of Verizon's CEO, then showed up with a bullhorn to illustrate what a lack of privacy feels like. "Ivan Seidenberg! I'm here on behalf of Verizon customers. PLEASE DO A BETTER JOB PROTECTING YOUR CUSTOMERS' CELL PHONE RECORDS! Everyone has the right to privacy, including you Ivan! When we don't have privacy, then freaks with bullhorns start showing up on our front lawn."  More »

Remember Thomas Bender? He was the Wendy's employee in West Virginia who garnished a police officer's sandwich with a ball of pubic hair earlier this year. He's just been sentenced to 6 months in prison and 2 years probation.   More »

We're no fans of fake customer reviews here at Consumerist, it's true, but obviously goofy reviews are one of my very favorite things. (The reviews for this gallon of milk are an Internet classic.)   More »

Kristy Hammonds, the woman who filmed her friend Michael doing inappropriate things to the food they were supposed to be preparing, needs a job to feed her two kids. She says she's been trying to get work at other fast food restaurants, though, which might be part of the problem.  More »

The saga of Kristy and Michael, the two (former) Domino's employees whose on-the-job shenanigans made it to YouTube earlier this week, continues. Now there are warrants out for their arrests, and Domino's says it plans to sue them. Seriously, if you work in the food industry and are nursing some grudges, just... try to hold them in until you can find a job better suited to you.  More »

Of all companies, ThinkGeek should know that you never taunt a sci-fi nerd with something movie related unless it really exists. Yesterday the company revealed its annual page of fake products to trick customers, including squeezable bacon spread and a "Unicorn Chaser" soft drink. The best product of all, however, was this Tauntaun sleeping bag (check out the tiny lightsaber on the zipper pull!), which sparked so much demand that the company is looking into selling it for real.  More »

Sure, we have to admit that it's kind of funny, but our official position is that you should not use your immense technological skills to modify a radio to broadcast on the Taco Bell drive thru's frequency. Sadly, we did not get this important message out to two teenagers in Sedalia, Mo.  More »

Here's an unverified walkthrough of the "I Am Rich" iPhone app. [TUAW]  More »

Want to drive a telemarketer crazy and amuse yourself at the same time? Here's an example of how to do it.

Perhaps you recall the strange story of Bob Dougherty, a Home Depot customer who sued the retailer after being glued to a toilet seat at their Louisville, CO location. Mr. Dougherty contended (before the case was dismissed) that the incident gave him post-traumatic stress disorder and that he developed diabetes as a direct result of Home Depot's negligence. Now, nearly 4 years after Mr. Dougherty became affixed to the Home Depot toilet, a Mr. Haywood R. Rosales of St. Louis, MO has filed a similar lawsuit, claiming that Home Depot was negligent in allowing a "copycat" incident to happen to him.   More »

"Hi welcome to McDonald's! Don't buy the such-and-such it's a waste of money. Just order the cheaper burger with lettuce and sauce."  More »

Sometimes parents like to drive their kids crazy by showing up on Facebook, or listening to rap music, or professing that Zac Efron is a cutie-patooty, but Grad Money Matters suggests a whole new level of annoyance: use their Halloween candy to teach them about money. Here's how: on Halloween night, you buy all their candy off of them, then give them a pre-set limit of how much they can spend each day to buy choice pieces back, and as the days go along, you drop the "prices" on the candy so that they can purchase more if they want or forego the sweets in order to increase their savings.   More »