Internet prankster takes on Costco
By QMI Agency
Toronto Sun
April 28, 2010
If you’re shopping at Costco and you come across a price tag for “Goat Balls,” “Human infant skull replicas,” or “The Gift of the Magi,” your eyes aren’t deceiving you.
They’re the handiwork of Rob Cockerham, a tech support worker in Sacramento, Calif., who has a website and a propensity for pranking.
“I am a Costco member, specializing in purchases of bananas and milk. On a recent visit in search of a quality, yet low-priced tequila, I realized that their on-shelf price tags are rather generic,” wrote Cockerham on his website, Cockeyed.com.
“They are printed without decoration, black on white paper measuring four by seven inches, with a straightforward layout using common fonts. And if I can make it, I can prank it.” So he made a list of all the products he thinks Costco should have, such as a “Vinyl dungeon restraint system,” “Canine/feline pacemaker kits,” and “Bottled vodka in water bottles.” He then set about making and printing the fake price tags, laminating them, and affixing them with magnetic strips.
He sent them to friends and fellow pranksters across the U.S., so they could be planted in Costco stores nationwide.
So far, dozens of people have sent back reports of their pranking, along with pictures of the newly placed tags.
One example shows someone placing “Turkey pork salmon” next to the fish, while another prankster placed “760 screwdrivers” next to a tool set.
“The signs look great and I’m sure they are giving the Costco customers (and employees) a good laugh,” Cockerham wrote.
His website features many documented pranks, as well as other oddball projects like a World of Warcraft diary.
image: forevergeek.com