Video Store Practical Jokes #1
January 8, 2007
One of my favorite practical jokes when I worked at Blockbuster is one of the easiest to perpetrate. It is also one of the funniest, because (at least at Blockbuster) employees are trained to be totally nonconfrontational.
Take one of the “security stickers” from a new or used video, and use your ninja skills to place it upon the person of one of the other customers. The best places are in a coat pocket, or a bag, but due to their stickiness it is also quite easy to place one in a person’s hair or on their back.
Sit back and watch the show as they repeatedly set off the alarms on their way out of the video store, and see their reaction and the way the store clerks handle the “situation.” In the Blockbuster ‘Loss Prevention’ training video, employees are instructed to ask things like, “May I check your purchases out at the counter?” and “Can I help you put that video back where it goes?” The best is when an employee gets frustrated and goes off script.
Bonus points if anyone mentions calling the police.
