Pranks with my friend's car

June 15, 2012 9:56 AM

I'm taking care of my friend's car for two weeks while he's on vacation. What are some silly things I can do with his car as a joke that he can follow on Facebook?

My friend left the country for two weeks and put me in charge of his car. He'll be able to check Facebook, and I was trying to think of something lighthearted and silly I could do that he could follow online, akin to the traveling gnome prank from Amelie or such. Can anyone think of any creative ideas? Thank you!

posted by Locative to human relations (31 answers total)

Get every couple you know to make out in the backseat and take a photo. Post a few of them a day, every day.
posted by griphus at 9:58 AM on June 15, 2012 [21 favorites]

Make a Facebook account for the car and have it "check in" at strange places?
posted by amarynth at 10:01 AM on June 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

Find a similar car in a junkyard and take a close-up picture with you making an "oh shit!" face?
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:02 AM on June 15, 2012 [18 favorites]

Go to the wrecking yard, and find a wrecked car that is ideally the same color and type as his. Ham it up next to the car with a gesture of shock and dismay, and have someone take a zoomed-in picture cropping out the surroundings, so he thinks the car was in an accident.

Then post another picture, with you making the exact same gesture, but the car on the road, you standing at the front of it, with someone lying on the road covered in ketchup as if you just ran into the guy.

Take another photo of the car, and this type photoshop it to another color. Stand in front of the car holding up a can of spray paint, and a mischevious look on your face.

Have a friend - wearing a hoodie and sunglasses - drive the car off, and have a photo of yourself chasing the car with outstretched arms, as if it's stolen.
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 10:02 AM on June 15, 2012 [14 favorites]

more: have a friend stand with you in front of the car. Friend is holding a wad of cash or a chequebook and you are holding the pink slip. Gesture as if you're haggling over the price of the car. Bonus points to create a fake craigslist posting that you post a screencap of (but not a real craiglist listing).
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 10:04 AM on June 15, 2012

Are you allowed to move the car, or do the pranks have to involve the car staying the same spot?
posted by Elly Vortex at 10:06 AM on June 15, 2012

An easy idea would be to Photoshop images of the car being driven in increasingly unlikely places: on a racetrack, across a football field during a game, atop the Great Wall of China, at the bottom of the ocean, on the surface of Mars, and so forth.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:09 AM on June 15, 2012 [12 favorites]

TruckNutz? Eyelashes on the headlights?
posted by Sidhedevil at 10:13 AM on June 15, 2012 [3 favorites]

Both oh god both at the same time.
posted by griphus at 10:13 AM on June 15, 2012 [18 favorites]

A teacher at my sons school has a rock em, sock em robot permanently affixed to her hood. That just cracks me up every time I see it.... Subtle but funny.
posted by pearlybob at 10:15 AM on June 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

Conan O'Brien just aired episodes from Chicago, in which he jumped various weird things (a giant bratwurst, a Wisconsin tourist, etc.) over an upright drawbridge. If you have some Photoshop skills, you could make you friend's car do that. This is my favorite view. It also reminds me of the Dukes of Hazzard opening credits.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 10:16 AM on June 15, 2012

Addendum: I have the keys, so I can drive it anywhere as needed. Photoshop ideas awesome, but my skills in that realm are quite sorry indeed. Loving these ideas so far!
posted by Locative at 10:22 AM on June 15, 2012

Bad photoshop skills don't necessarily ruin the joke. They could in fact add to it, but then it could just be me that finds really bad photoshopping funny.
posted by wwax at 10:23 AM on June 15, 2012 [4 favorites]

Fill it with packing peanuts. To the brim.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:55 AM on June 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

Inspiration
posted by phunniemee at 10:58 AM on June 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

No fake accident pics, unless you want to risk his being pissed and upset when he's only trying to relax and have fun.
posted by SillyShepherd at 11:15 AM on June 15, 2012 [3 favorites]

Get every couple you know to make out in the backseat and take a photo. Post a few of them a day, every day.

I love this. The first photo in the album should be a picture of the car with a cardboard sign propped up in the window that says "SHAGGIN' WAGON, 25¢"

And the last photo should be you standing next to the car fanning a stack of bills.
posted by phunniemee at 11:27 AM on June 15, 2012 [17 favorites]

A series of hat + moustache costumes modeled by the car.
posted by TaconibsPHD at 11:27 AM on June 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'd shop Bill Murray into it with a groundhog in his lap, driving angry.

Even without Photoshop skills you can get creative angles in photos, like parking behind a tow truck and posing upset. Or park it (briefly) on some railroad tracks while you appear to have a picnic or take a nap nearby. Or park it (briefly) in a handicapped spot and appear to be flipping someone out of the frame off. Or in front of a police cruiser, appearing handcuffed, drunk and angry. Put a 40oz on the trunk next to you. A lot of people may be willing to play along too. Maybe the tow truck driver or a cop. The train engineer not so much.
posted by hypersloth at 11:51 AM on June 15, 2012 [2 favorites]

Recreate iconic movie scenes with the car as one of the main characters. I can't decide if it would be funnier to attempt costuming the car or just leaving it as it is.

(the first one that came to mind was Fredo Corleone in the boat but how the fuck would you even do that idek)
posted by elizardbits at 12:03 PM on June 15, 2012

Take a picture of you and the same make and model of car, but a different color. Explain that you had to repaint after"it" happened.
posted by Cranberry at 12:11 PM on June 15, 2012

I'm going to combine a couple of the ideas above: photoshop it into famous movie scenes that have cars prominently featured. Thelma and Louise doing the cliff dive, the end of Harold and Maude, the Italian Job, Blues Brothers with the million cops behind them, any of the car scenes in Ferris Bueller, chase scenes from any of the Bourne movies. Oh, and Batman. Make sure you have one of Batman driving it.
posted by 8dot3 at 12:18 PM on June 15, 2012 [3 favorites]

This would have to be a video. It's silly, but I did this once when I was picking a friend up in her car and we both cracked up: pull up the windshield wipers at the hinge so they are sticking up in the air, and place mittens/gloves on the ends of the wipers. Get inside and turn on the wipers. The car will appear to be waving with both "hands."
posted by caryatid at 1:12 PM on June 15, 2012 [3 favorites]

If you're doing photos, do a series where you sell the car to some kid. The last pic should be of you holding a big wad of cash, waving goodbye as the kid drives away.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:22 PM on June 15, 2012

I don't know what Thorzdad meant by "kid" but that would be hilarious with, like, an eight-year-old.
posted by griphus at 1:23 PM on June 15, 2012 [3 favorites]

I put my boss's new car on eBay - with a high enough reserve to be safe for a while.
posted by crankyrogalsky at 1:59 PM on June 15, 2012

I agree that bad photoshop is even funnier than good photoshop. I've always been a big fan of terrible MS paint drawings.
posted by Quincy at 2:57 PM on June 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

Years ago, someone pranked a friend for months, slowly covering his car with Michael Jackson stickers from gumball machines. I'm sure Steve still thinks it was me, as I coudl not control my laughter every time he complained. Whoever it was was brilliant.

Maybe slowly cover the car with removable stickers, posting daily "Dang kids! Wait'll I catch'em" messages on Facebook.
posted by chazlarson at 3:36 PM on June 15, 2012

What if the car itself fell in love? Get a photo of the car outside a Porsche dealership making goo-goo eyes at a really sexy looking car.
posted by CathyG at 4:39 PM on June 15, 2012

To build on CathyG's love angle: maybe you can talk a used-car dealer into helping out.....
first shot: the goo-goo eyes at the sexy little convertible of it's dreams.
second shot: the two cars fender-to-fender, with a bouquet of flowers.
next: the two 'parent' cars, plus something small for a 'child' car, like a Miata or VW Bug, a Smartcar or Mimi Cooper.
finally: your friend's car, a minivan for the 'mom' car (she got fat!) and two or three 'kid' cars....
posted by easily confused at 5:35 PM on June 15, 2012

I asked a similar question a few years ago. The responses might be helpful.
posted by fieldtrip at 9:32 PM on June 15, 2012