The reaction to such a drastic move was about what you’d expect, but even though you know it’s coming, the round-up video still manages to be pretty damn funny, because, let’s face it, people don’t like their football-watching being interrupted.   Especially during the Super Bowl.  The reactions, as indicated, are normally in the vein of a “WTF?” reaction, but for some reason, they don’t get old.

The compilation video leads this post, and if you’d like to see the individual videos, check out Zach’s article from Super Bowl Sunday.

Naturally, the video has enjoyed something of a viral reaction, having already accumulated over 900,000 views since it was posted on Monday (February 6).  If you look at the YouTube comments, you’ll find the reaction to the video was largely positive.  

There are a quite a few “That was a lot funnier than I expected it to be! Great job!” and “i don’t think i ever laughed so hard in my life!” comments, but, as with every YouTube comments section, there is a nice amount of trolling, as well:

Look at all those sheeple wake up America there are more important things going on right now !

prskater521

And:

It’s good to see that at least there is something Americans truly care about. Unfortunately, it is not banksters looting the economy and sending jobs overseas, only someone unplugging the TV during the Super Bowl. We are in a lot of trouble.

agcw86

Sigh.  Can’t we all just get along?

The Rainforest Action Network (RAN) and The New Bottom Line teamed up to launch a blog called, Bankrupting America, trying to raise awareness towards the practices of BoA. Looking through their archive of posts since their launch, nothing was really generating a big response. That was until RAN started a prank which has gone viral.

This happened over the weekend, when RAN created non-adhesive stickers and replaced the BoA ATM screens across San Francisco with their own custom made menu. Creating what they call “Automated Truth Machines”. ATM visitors could make selections such as:

Invest in Coal-fired Power Plants
Foreclose on America’s Homes
Bankroll Climate Change
Fund Executive Bonuses

Ouch.

They hit over 85 ATM’s according to their article, and even provided a custom Google Maps so people could visit the targeted machines.

Each sticker featured a link to their tumblr page, which has gotten a huge spike in traffic since the prank. They’ve updated their article in response to the interest, letting people download high-res PDF versions of the stickers they used. Smartly, they aren’t suggesting anyone attempt their prank.

Jimmy Kimmel tapped into this with a challenge to parents to give their kids a terrible present for Christmas, which a lot of parents were more than happy to respond. Even without Kimmel, there have been plenty of videos submitted of parents pranking their kids with an awful present.

One such video is picking up steam on YouTube, and has by far been my favorite of all the submissions. Being a White Sox fan, I absolutely understand this girl’s reaction to receiving a Chicago Cubs pillow pet for Christmas. My response would have been more smarmy than hers, and would have just bragged about winning a World Series in the past 10 years. Not sure she was alive in 2005 though.

Here’s the rest of the submissions, enjoy, and have a Happy New Year!

It does raise an interesting question about the potential for abuse. What is to stop someone from simply clicking dozens of links and entering the phone numbers of friends, enemies or premium numbers?

I can see the spammers making their plans now. Within weeks we’ll hear about a wave of businesses receiving phone calls with recorded messages from an ousted prince in Nigeria.

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Andy Beal is an internet marketing consultant and considered one of the world’s most respected and interactive search engine marketing experts. Andy has worked with many Fortune 1000 companies such as Motorola, CitiFinancial, Lowes, Alaska Air, DeWALT, NBC and Experian.

You can read his internet marketing blog at Marketing Pilgrim and reach him at andy.beal@gmail.com.

The Associated Press calls Ryan Zylstra’s blog posting a “prank” that has him facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted as an adult on felony charges.

Because the girl shown in the picture is 16, the photograph qualifies as child pornography. It was taken at Zylstra’s home where the party was held.

This isn’t the first time a minor has faced charges of child pornography. Google News retrieves several stories published over the past few years. One 15-year-old was charged in 2004 after distributing pornographic images of herself online.