In a digital age where pranking people has never been easier, a new poll from Domino's UK reveals that physical, 'old school' pranks, such as salting someone's tea or covering someone's desk in sticky notes, win out over digital pranks as our favourite tricks to play.
Keep an eye out for those trick or treaters too with October, 31st just around the corner, as Halloween topped the list as the best time of year to play pranks on each other.
The UK's top five pranks to play include some time-honoured classics:
Old pranks are still the nation's favourite
- Adding salt instead of sugar in someone's tea
- Adding unexpected levels of chilli to a meal
- Changing someone's phone ringtone
- Covering someone's desk in Sticky notes
- Randomly 'liking' someone's Facebook pictures from years ago
The good news is that by and large, we aren't a nation of cruel prankers, with 40% of us only play pranks to bring a smile to someone's face. However, one in five admits to pranking for revenge. It's perhaps not surprising that our favourite prankster is James Corden, whose cheeky chap antics and British sense of humour are preferred over more sophisticated 'career pranksters' such as American media hoaxer Joey Skaggs.
There is also evidence of a love-prank equation at play, as we are most likely to play a prank on our partners, (24%) followed by our best friends (21%) and work colleagues (19%) as targets for a bit of mischief.
But just how do you play the perfect prank? James Lovell, Founder of the Ministry of Fun shares his five golden rules for pulling off a seriously good prank:
1. Choose your victim wisely - some pranks suit some people better than others
2. Recruit back up - your prank will work best if you have others on-board
3. Keep it harmless - be silly not cruel! Aim for harmless hilarity rather than causing genuine upset
4. Go BIG - The bigger the better and strangely more believable
5. Delivery is everything - a deadpan delivery is crucial. Keep a straight face - no giggling!
To celebrate the Domino's 30th anniversary in the UK and to mark the nation's attachment to nights in with a slice of Pepperoni Passion, Domino's has played some 'trick or treat' pranks of its own by surprising unsuspecting customers with deliveries of anything other than Domino's. Check them out what happened here:
Simon Wallis, Marketing Director at Domino's Pizza UK said "It might be our 30th birthday but we're definitely not too old to have a bit of fun. Our customers take pizza very seriously, so we decided to prank a few of them - after all, how would you feel if a couscous delivery turns up instead of your favourite pizza?! The important part is to bring everyone in on the joke in the end - and to finally show up with plenty of pizza as sometimes, only a Domino's will do!"