Emerson Dameron - The Art of the Prank

July 28, 2014December 15, 2023

Lily Allen’s Instagram Prank Backfires

An ambitious prankster sometimes needs an assist from co-conspirators with some leverage. But those people may have more to lose.

British pop singer Lily Allen has a long history of orchestrated controversy and publicity stunts, but her latest online jape may have put jobs at risk.

According to The New Zealand Herald, Allen landed at Gold Coast airport in Australia and apparently convinced security personnel to cuff her and pretend to arrest her. She posted this picture to her Instagram account with the tag “#uhoh.”

This photo of Lily Allen in handcuffs has been removed from Instagram.

It got thousands of “likes,” but it’s gone now. And airport authorities say the incident is being “investigated internally.” Allen, for her part, is in the clear and free to continue spreading her unpredictable brand of sass.

July 25, 2014December 15, 2023

You Shouldn’t Buy This Boat

You get a text message obviously not meant for you. Do you politely correct the sender, sympathizing with the inconvenience? Or do you spring into action?

Redditor /u/beccascott1 brings us a tale of a boat deal that’s all wet.

You shouldn't buy this boat

The prospective buyer seems oddly intent on going through with the purchase, even after the product is revealed to be less than seaworthy.

According to the screen capture, the wiseacre’s phone is at a nearly full charge, sidestepping a standard rebuke from the Redditorati.

Fellow posters /u/bpaq3 and /u/MustardIcecream weigh in, forecasting a dark aftermath for the ruse, making the whole thing just sad enough to be funny.

[via Reddit’s /r/pranks]

October 1, 2013December 15, 2023

The Great Salt Lake Whales

From Emerson Dameron:

As seen on Futility Closet:

Here”s an imaginative newspaper hoax from the American West “” James Wickham, a “scientific English gentleman,” was said to have released two 35-foot whales in the Great Salt Lake in 1873:

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Mr. Wickham came from London in person to superintend the “˜planting” of his leviathan pets. He selected a small bay near the mouth of Bear River connected with the main water by a shallow strait half a mile wide. Across this strait he built a wide fence, and inside the pen so formed he turned the whales loose. After a few minutes inactivity they disported themselves in a lively manner, spouting water as in mid-ocean, but as if taking in by instinct or intention the cramped character of their new home, they suddenly made a bee line for deep water and shot through the wire fence as if it had been made of threads. In twenty minutes they were out of sight, and the chagrined Mr. Wickham stood gazing helplessly at the big salt water. Continue reading “The Great Salt Lake Whales”

September 24, 2013December 15, 2023

Fake Design Studio Satirizes Artists Who Value Style Over Substance

From Emerson Dameron as seen on psfk.com:

Artist uses a tongue-in-cheek method to get noticed

Graphic Designer Amy West has created a brilliantly refreshing new project titled Grafik BS. The work sees a completely made-up design studio with its own fake Behance page aimed at an audience with a shallow understanding of design, or as West puts it, “those who have come to rely on the aesthetic qualities promoted by new technologies with graphic design.”

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The studio”s “˜page” displays posters with meaningless messages giving users the ability to comment on her phony designs thus portraying our modern obsession with trends and style whether they be good, or bad. Continue reading “Fake Design Studio Satirizes Artists Who Value Style Over Substance”

August 21, 2013December 15, 2023

UK Graffiti Artists Create Coded Murals

From Emerson Dameron:

Code Graffiti Contains Hidden Messages
by Kristen Nozell
August 16, 2013

A new kind of street art featuring coded messages is emerging across the UK in anticipation of international technology festival Campus Party, also known as “˜Glastonbury for Geeks.” The renowned event commissioned the series in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the team that went on to break the Enigma code and as a method to build buzz leading up to festival, which will take place during the first week of September at London”s O2 center.

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The complex street art includes Morse, JavaScript and Binary codes, ready to be decoded by tech-savvy viewers, alongside images of coding celebrities Alan Turing, Samuel Morse and Tim Berners-Lee. Those who successfully decode the messages and enter the correct response on the Campus Party website will be entered to win two free tickets to the technology festival. The works are appearing in various cities across the country, including London, Manchester and Birmingham, throughout the month of August, and are also available to view (and decode) on the Campus Party website.

Watch the video: Continue reading “UK Graffiti Artists Create Coded Murals”