Two University of Houston students named Jehv Maravilla and Christian Toledo received $25,000 each for a prank which involved them placing a fake marketing poster featuring them at a local McDonald’s restaurant.
The students made an appearance on the “Ellen” show where host Ellen DeGeneres presented them with their reward money courtesy of McDonald’s, for their appearance in the fast-food chain’s upcoming marketing campaign aimed at reaffirming the company’s commitment to diversity.
These kids put up a poster of themselves in a McDonald’s, and nobody noticed for months. But I noticed. https://t.co/WAscG3bF0b
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) 17 сентября 2018 г.
Maravilla and Toledo carried out their prank in July when they managed to sneak their fake poster ad into the restaurant.
"We were eating McDonald’s one day and we looked around and saw there were posters around that didn’t have any Asians. They had other races but no Asians so we felt like it was our duty to put ourselves up there," Maravilla said, as quoted by USA Today.
The poster remained unnoticed for about a month until Maravilla finally came clean about the prank on social media.
While McDonald’s recently took the poster down due to ongoing renovations, the company announced that it would be donated to the Ronald McDonald House for a fundraiser, the media outlet added.
Wow, can’t believe it—two Asians walk into a McDonald’s, one posing as employee, put up a poster on private property, not only do they not get punished, they get an ad campaign & $50,000…two Black guys walk into a Starbucks, wait for a friend…get arrested
— 4RealUnited (@4RealUnited) 17 сентября 2018 г.
Clever, creative, made a great point, and hurt no one. The perfect prank and it's great that McDonald's saw the value of it.
— Rod Keith (@TheRodKeith) 17 сентября 2018 г.
