A YouTuber's hilarious prank has taken the internet by storm. Notably, YouTuber Stanley Chen opened a fake ramen restaurant in Sydney as a joke, serving instant noodles to customers who believed they were getting a fine dining experience. Mr. Chen named his restaurant Nise Jangara Ramen, with "Nise" meaning "fake" in Japanese. He then created a sophisticated website and eye-catching images of his dishes to make them seem believable. He also sent mass emails to influencers, offering them free food in return for sharing it with their followers.
A description on the website read, ''An Experimental Omakase Ramen Experience Available only for 2 Nights Every year. Nise Jangaru Ramen has been travelling around the world offering pop-up ramen since 1953 and has so far hosted events in Japan, Belgium, America and 50 more—now in Australia. We liken our work to that of art in a museum. Subsequently, just like many museums our services are complimentary. We are walk in only.''
The response was overwhelming, with people eagerly waiting up to 90 minutes to savour what they thought was a gourmet meal. Little did they know that they were served a cleverly disguised packet of instant noodles. Many even praised the food, saying it tasted "home-cooked" and that the broth was "really good''.
The video documenting the stunt has gone viral, sparking a heated debate online. In the video, Mr. Chen shared the experience, revealing how he tricked customers into believing they were getting a high-end dining experience.
Watch the video here:
The video has ignited a lively discussion, with many praising his creativity and others criticising the prank as mean-spirited. One user wrote, ''I like this… making fun of how people get fooled by social media.''
Another commented, ''If you'd never made this video, you could've just had a wildly profitable restaurant lmao.'' A third said, ''The power of marketing and FOMO.''
A fourth added, ''Influencer meetups are extremely strange. Those people are so out of touch. The willingness to pay 45 dollars for a bowl of ramen is freaking unhinged. It tells us all we need to know.''
A fifth stated, ''He's gonna make it big time, there's no way he doesn't with this high quality production and I'm gonna be here from the beginning.''
