YouTubers are notorious for using their platform to pull “pranks” on unsuspecting people.
There are entire channels exclusively dedicated to pulling these tricks, and most execute their “pranks” on random strangers.
(We say “pranks” because some of these YouTubers have lost touch with what actually constitutes a “prank”.)
Pranks are meant to be lighthearted jokes that let everyone involved have a good laugh.
An example of a good prank would be like that time your friend offered you “regular” jellybeans that turned out to be of the Harry Potter variety. (Remember those? With such delicious flavors as rotten egg and vomit, how did we ever have to be pranked into eating them?)
In recent years, the rise of “prank” channels on YouTube have given way to a lot of mean-spirited acts.
People seem to have lost touch with the traditional definition of a prank and have begun acting out in pretty rude ways that can hurt or offend others. Then, when they face backlash, they defend their actions by insisting they were just “pranks.”
In April, two YouTubers came under fire for an insensitive pregnancy prank.
Danielle Cohn, 15, and her partner Mikey Tua, 16, sparked outrage after they posted a series of videos on YouTube detailing their engagement, spontaneous Las Vegas marriage, pregnancy announcement, and gender reveal.
All the videos turned out to have been completely fake, and people were furious for the couple’s insensitive and offensive joke making light of pregnancy.
They then released a video defending their “prank.”
“If you got offended, or if you looked at it in a wrong way,” Dani said in the video, “That’s definitely not what we were trying to do. We were just trying to make a fun video … We’ve always seen pranks on YouTube, we thought it would be fun to prank you guys.”
Somehow this apology didn’t cut it for people.
Now, another YouTube couple have outraged people for their idea of a “prank” video.
YouTuber Lauren Love runs several different channels with her longtime partner, Joel Ashly. The two are the couple behind the channel Joel and Lauren Tv which currently boasts over 1.3 million subscribers.
The couple frequently posts videos of them pranking others and each other.
A few classic titles include, “CHEATING IN MY DREAM PRANK” and “EMBARISSING [sic] GIRLFRIEND IN PUBLIC PRANK.”
But they also enjoy pulling so-called “pranks” on random strangers, too.
According to Buzzfeed News the couple’s latest video, which they titled “CEO Firing People Prank IN THE HOOD (GONE WRONG)” was uploaded to their channel last month and has since been deleted.
Check out a clip of the prank below and get ready to feel really, really bad for this poor employee.
In the video, Lauren dresses as a CEO and enters a Walmart in Richmond, Texas.
Inside, she approaches various employees and verbally accosts them before “firing” them.
In this clip, she tells a Walmart employee that he is working “too slow” as he stocks shelves. She then tells him to hand over his badge and vest because he’s fired.
Although visibly confused, the man obliges.
Since releasing the video, a victim of the couple’s cruel “prank” have come forward to voice her upset.
Richmond Walmart employee Maria Leones told local news network KTRK that she began to cry when she thought she had lost her job of six years. It was at this point that Lauren revealed it was all a “prank.”
Leones explained her husband is currently not working while he recovers from triple bypass surgery, leaving her to be the sole earner of their home. He also reportedly relies on her health insurance.
RELATED STORIES
Of the prank, Leones said, “It might be fun for some people, but not for people who have already had a traumatic experience.”
The people on the internet have also spoken out against Joel and Lauren Tv.
One user likened the “prank” to bullying, while another said they couldn’t even stand to watch the “reprehensible” video.
The YouTubers have yet to release any sort of public statement or apology for the video.
But, with what we know about YouTubers, any sort of video would likely consist of them defending the video as being “just a prank.”