Finest Prank in History Competition: From Hermes to bonsai kittens

[mandy]

Priceless or puerile? There's the rub, for one man's brilliant prank is another's mindless stunt. Most would agree that the best pranks offer more than just deception, mischievousness or ridicule, and that much of the genre dished up on television now—the mutant progeny of shows like “Candid Camera”—falls well short of the mark. But what is that special ingredient? Elaborateness or simplicity? Satirical bite or surrealism? Irony or bluntness? Even dictionaries seem unsure how to define “prank” (orig. unk.): it is, by turns, a malicious trick, a conjuring act performed to deceive or surprise, a mischievous frolic, and more...

The best pranks have always blurred the lines between legality and illegality, good and bad taste, right and wrong conduct...

full article: http://economist.com/world/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5323412&no_na_tran=1