Prank News - The Art of the Prank

May 13, 2009December 15, 2023

Ashton Kutcher Punk’d for Punk’s Sake

From ArtFagCity.com, May 12, 2009:

Blog Buzz or Art News? Jonah Peretti Punks Ashton Kutcher

kutcher_peretti-200 The Internet is a buzz! Jonah Peretti punks Ashton Kutcher by pretending to be an outraged twitter fan who didn”t have one of his tweets returned, and Kutcher calls him to discuss the matter. The prank follows a lineage of previous like minded Peretti works “” blackpeopleloveus.com, a satirical website dedicated to assuaging white guilt, the nike sweatshop emails, a series of correspondence in which Peretti debates with an anonymous Nike representative over why the company couldn”t fill his request to print “sweatshop” custom Nike iD sneakers, and the Rejection Hot Line, a phone number leading to recorded multiple choice rejection options. Each employs entertainment as a means of engaging audiences.

Peretti”s latest viral project piques AFC interest because unlike his days at Eyebeam, when such “pieces” were labeled “art”, the press now describes the Kutcher punk as a “prank”. Are we simply looking at a shift in semantics due to a change in professional fields, or is this shift indicative of the shrinking distinction between art and everything else? Continue reading “Ashton Kutcher Punk’d for Punk’s Sake”

May 11, 2009December 15, 2023

J.G. Ballard, R.I.P.

J.G. Ballard “Obituary”
by V. Vale
researchpubs.com
April 19, 2009

J.G. Ballard with V. Vale

I particularly hate it when “rebels” die – there are already so few of them/us. Sometimes it seems like virtually everyone you meet these days in the world is a slave to the profit motive/capitalist imperative: “What’s the meaning of life?” “To make money!” J.G. Ballard, and another of my relatively recently deceased role models, W.S. Burroughs, both refused to prostitute their writing, and they both refused to shmooze and “network” merely to further their “careers.” Both had a hatred of bourgeois hypocrisy and phony politeness, while at the same time being deeply polite and courteous, almost to a fault “¦

But for now, let us think of ways to publicly mourn one of the greatest thinkers and poets of the past century. Continue reading “J.G. Ballard, R.I.P.”

April 11, 2009December 15, 2023

Adbuster’s Busts Ass

From Adbusters, April 10, 2009:

Adbusters Wins a Legal Victory Against Canada’s Media Giants, Legal Action in the US May Be Next

adbusters

After 15 years of legal tussling to bring democracy to the public airwaves, Adbusters has finally scored a great victory. The Supreme Court of British Columbia has granted us an appeal in our landmark case against Canada’s CBC and Canwest Global, giving us the go-ahead to set a precedent and establish some public rights over the airwaves (check out the judges’ ruling here). Continue reading “Adbuster’s Busts Ass”

April 4, 2009December 15, 2023

World Pillow Fight Day

Update, April 4, 2009, from AP:

Pillow Fight Breaks Out on Wall St.

Featherweights: Detroit police halt pillow fight

From Urbanprankster.com, April 2, 2009:

worldpillowfightday-425

World Pillow Fight Day is Saturday [April 4, 2009]. Check out their site for a list of cities participating around the world. The New York event, organized by Newmindspace, has added a “no feathers” policy. This sounds like a good idea after the recent hubbub in San Francisco.

March 15, 2009December 15, 2023

Sociopathic Pranksters Foil German Police Investigation

German police try to determine if they were duped
by Vanessa Gera
1010WINS
March 13, 2009

internetcafe200 Winnenden, Germany (AP) — German police worked with U.S. authorities Friday to determine if they had fallen victim to an Internet hoax as they investigate a school shooting in southern Germany that killed 15 people.

Tim Kretschmer, 17, gunned down students at his former high school in Winnenden Wednesday before fleeing on foot and by car, killing three more people, and eventually turning a 9-millimeter Beretta pistol on himself.

Investigators said Thursday that Kretschmer had posted his intentions in an Internet chat room only hours beforehand, but they now say they have serious doubts about the authenticity of the posting.

Police spokeswoman Brigitte Wahl said Friday that investigators were working with officials in the United States, where the servers that host the German-language Web site are located, but did not expect to clear up the mystery quickly.

“It could take a while,” she said.

Police said they were alerted to the purported Internet threat after the attack, and released a transcript of the chat at a news conference. But later in the day, after the site itself claimed the posting was fraudulent, they searched Kretschmer’s computer and found no trace of it in the computer’s history, police spokesman Klaus Hinderer said.

Police, meanwhile, said the spotlight inspired copycat threats that sprang up in at least three towns on Friday morning. Continue reading “Sociopathic Pranksters Foil German Police Investigation”