Aug 28, 2006

Promos Going Too Far?

Ever watched the show "Punk'd"? Do you ever wonder why playing tricks on people seems to be so entertaining to so many people? Are you fearing that civilization as we know it is coming to a close?  Now there is even more evidence of that fact. Punk'd-like reality show humor has hit lower-level NASCAR racing, and the result is (predictably) stupid. 

Here's the scenario: Justin Philpott, a 16-year-old minor-league NASCAR driver, was taking part in an awards ceremony at the Altamont Motorsports Park in California when a guy jumped over the track's retaining wall, hopped a fence and climbed into his late-model Chevrolet racecar. Seemingly a potential subject of "America's Dumbest Criminals," the guy was apparently intent on stealing Philpott's racecar -- while it was on the race track.  Brilliant.

"I heard my racecar start up and slide away, so I turned around and started yelling and running after it," said Philpott, told the Tracy (California) Press. "No one knew what was going on."
 
What was going on was bad (or so bad it's good?) television. The apparent car thief was, in reality, an actor who had been hired by one of Philpott's sponsors, an enterprise called TaxBrain. The goal of the prank was to get some good footage for a TaxBrain commercial. We have to tax our brain to figure out why somebody thought this might be funny -- or even work -- because the actor's flight in the racecar was immediately cut short by track officials who ordered tow trucks to block the purloined car.

With his escape route stymied, the actor-thief was then attacked by Philpott's older brother, who wrenched the guy from the car, threw him to the ground and pinned him until the authorities could arrive.  Supposedly, neither Philpott had been told about the stunt ahead of time, according to the younger of the two.  And supposedly the actor was not told he was going to be beaten up as part of his thespian duties that day.  Of course the whole thing was caught on tape, and now the incident has been making the Internet rounds.

While the principals being punked didn't know what was in the air -- a prerequisite, we suppose -- officials at the race track apparently did.  One might have assumed that they would know better, but anything to be on TV, I guess.