This Viral Pizza Delivery Prank Has Facebook Divided

There are few things more satisfying than the execution of a well-planned prank. There's the build-up, that moment of tension as the intended target walks blindly into the trap, and the pay-off. Whether it's the childish but amusing icebreaker of placing a whoopee cushion under the seat of an unsuspecting family member or the classic move of subtly rearranging everything in someone's house, even the simplest pranks can shake up the norm. One of the go-to strategies in the world of jests and jokes is that of a prank pizza delivery.

Ever since the first modern-day pizza delivery worker began their cheesy rounds in the mid-1900s (via Bacinos Pizza), they have inspired many a scheme by the bored, from sending workers to addresses that don't exist to ordering an absurd amount of pizzas to make their lives harder. Other times, recipients are the butt of the joke: In one extreme case, a man in Belgium received unwanted pizza deliveries for nine straight years, reports Food & Wine. And recently on Facebook, one pizza prank turned the classic jump scare into something a bit more elaborate. 

In December, Facebook user Justin Flom posted a nearly nine-minute video involving a fake pizza delivery man making a surprise delivery. This fake delivery man was actually a woman wearing a mock torso, complete with a very convincing male character mask, and hiding inside a large stack of hollowed-out pizza boxes. The idea was that she would ring the recipient's doorbell and then pop out of the boxes when the woman went to grab the pizzas. Much to the annoyance of some commenters, the majority of the video shows the woman climbing inside the costume, while the actual prank itself is only a minute or so long. Based on how long (and loudly) the pranksters were loitering in front of the prankee's house, some users thought the stunt was fake.

"Dude talked entirely to much during this I couldn't even watch it all," read one comment. "The awards for best overacting performances are all wrapped up for this year and the next 10 folks," another stated. Other commenters noticed that the pizza recipient had a Ring video doorbell, which would have allowed them to see everything that was going on outside their door and ruined any sort of surprise. Others, however, enjoyed the prank. "Love It!!! How ingenious!!" one user praised, followed by, "This was brilliant!" by another user.