4chan is an image-based web bulletin board whose anonymous internet users love a good prank. These internet pranksters and trolls often hatch schemes to crash competing site's servers, plant ridiculous search terms on Twitter, create internet hoaxes, hack into famous people's email, and more.
See also: 15 Excellent Ways To Prank Your Coworkers.
I've selected the four funniest and most harmless 4chan pranks from the past few years to highlight here. Enjoy!
In 2009, 4chan pranksters flooded a Time magazine poll for their third annual Top 100 World's Most Influential People competition with votes for their site's creator, Christopher Poole (known as "moot").Thanks to 4chan's organized community, Moot received 16,794,368 votes and an average influence rating of 90 (out of a possible 100), beating important contributors to society such as President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Vladimir Putin.More »
In 2012, singer Taylor Swift teamed up with sponsors Papa John's and a textbook rental company called Chegg to send Swift to perform for the school that received the most votes on Facebook.The school would also receive a $10,000 cash prize to be put towards their music department.
When 4chan got wind of the competition, they sprang to action and hijacked the contest, skewing the results so that the winning school happened to be a school for the deaf.Obviously, the joke may have started off a bit mean-spirited (though no-doubt funny), however in the end, it turned out to be a boon for the Horace Mann School For The Deaf.
Even though the contest organizers took Horace Mann out of the running, Taylor Swift stepped up and donated $10,000 to the school, then promised a free concert ticket to each of the school's students. Contest sponsors Papa John's and Chegg matched her donation, and then Cover Girl and American Greetings stepped in with checks of their own.In the end, the Horace Mann School For The Deaf received $50,000 in donations, all thanks to 4chan's prank.As an added bonus, VH1's "Save the Music" program chipped in another $10,000 worth of musical instruments.More »
It all started with a funny comment made in jest by Boston Phoenix journalist, David Thorpe, and rapper Pitbull was "exiled" to a remote Alaskan town.Fortunately (or not, depending on whom you ask), his exile only lasted for a day.
In 2012, musician Pitbull was working with Walmart on a promotion in which he would pay a personal visit to the Walmart store with the most "likes" on Facebook. After Thorpe suggested that it would be funny to vote to send Pitbull to Alaska, 4chan organized their masses and started voting for the Walmart in Kodiak, Alaska (population 6,130).4chan users got the Twitter hashtag #ExilePitbull tending within a day, soon increasing Kodiak's Walmart Facebook page by 70,000 new likes.
Pitbull took the joke in stride, spending a pleasant day in Kodiak where he performed, sat in on local traditional celebrations, and tweeting about the experience to his many followers.He even brought along the journalist who started it all, proving that Pitbull is genuinely a good sport.
In 2012, soda company Mountain Dew held a contest asking fans to submit names for a new beverage for a chance to win a digital camera, leading 4chan to start "Operation: Gushing Grandma."4chan users submitted a flurry of suggestive names to the contest, eventually crashing the site.The winner ended up being "Diabeetus," and Mountain Dew had to publicly admit that they "lost the internet."More »
See also: 15 Excellent Ways To Prank Your Coworkers.
I've selected the four funniest and most harmless 4chan pranks from the past few years to highlight here. Enjoy!
1. 4chan Creator Named Time Magazine's Most Influential Person
In 2009, 4chan pranksters flooded a Time magazine poll for their third annual Top 100 World's Most Influential People competition with votes for their site's creator, Christopher Poole (known as "moot").Thanks to 4chan's organized community, Moot received 16,794,368 votes and an average influence rating of 90 (out of a possible 100), beating important contributors to society such as President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Vladimir Putin.More »
2. Trying To Send Taylor Swift to Perform At School For The Deaf
In 2012, singer Taylor Swift teamed up with sponsors Papa John's and a textbook rental company called Chegg to send Swift to perform for the school that received the most votes on Facebook.The school would also receive a $10,000 cash prize to be put towards their music department.
When 4chan got wind of the competition, they sprang to action and hijacked the contest, skewing the results so that the winning school happened to be a school for the deaf.Obviously, the joke may have started off a bit mean-spirited (though no-doubt funny), however in the end, it turned out to be a boon for the Horace Mann School For The Deaf.
Even though the contest organizers took Horace Mann out of the running, Taylor Swift stepped up and donated $10,000 to the school, then promised a free concert ticket to each of the school's students. Contest sponsors Papa John's and Chegg matched her donation, and then Cover Girl and American Greetings stepped in with checks of their own.In the end, the Horace Mann School For The Deaf received $50,000 in donations, all thanks to 4chan's prank.As an added bonus, VH1's "Save the Music" program chipped in another $10,000 worth of musical instruments.More »
3. Sending Pitbull to Alaska
It all started with a funny comment made in jest by Boston Phoenix journalist, David Thorpe, and rapper Pitbull was "exiled" to a remote Alaskan town.Fortunately (or not, depending on whom you ask), his exile only lasted for a day.
In 2012, musician Pitbull was working with Walmart on a promotion in which he would pay a personal visit to the Walmart store with the most "likes" on Facebook. After Thorpe suggested that it would be funny to vote to send Pitbull to Alaska, 4chan organized their masses and started voting for the Walmart in Kodiak, Alaska (population 6,130).4chan users got the Twitter hashtag #ExilePitbull tending within a day, soon increasing Kodiak's Walmart Facebook page by 70,000 new likes.
Pitbull took the joke in stride, spending a pleasant day in Kodiak where he performed, sat in on local traditional celebrations, and tweeting about the experience to his many followers.He even brought along the journalist who started it all, proving that Pitbull is genuinely a good sport.
4. Naming A Mountain Dew Drink, "Diabeetus"
In 2012, soda company Mountain Dew held a contest asking fans to submit names for a new beverage for a chance to win a digital camera, leading 4chan to start "Operation: Gushing Grandma."4chan users submitted a flurry of suggestive names to the contest, eventually crashing the site.The winner ended up being "Diabeetus," and Mountain Dew had to publicly admit that they "lost the internet."More »
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