The rise of the fake prank industry

JUN 2016

Industry trade press documented how 'prank gone wrong' had hardened into a clickbait formula, with titles promising violence or sexual content the videos rarely delivered. A counter-industry of debunking channels emerged, including The Prank Reviewer and h3h3productions, dedicated to proving popular pranks were staged with paid actors. Philip DeFranco had publicly named several creators he considered to be staging content.