Serious question: especially since embarrassment seems to be the key ingredient of this prank, how is it ever NOT sexual harassment?
I like pranks -- really, I do! -- but I also know that there are good pranks and bad pranks. I need to be shown/convinced how this isn't the type of thing to be posted to reddit.com/r/ITSAPRANK because that's what it feels like right now. "They deserved it" sounds like a really sketchy defense, too.
So if I just need to lighten up, then okay, but I feel like there should probably be some answers to the questions and concerns that I'm trying to convey. Even if we completely set aside all ethical questions, it still just seems like this would have major liability issues. "They deserved it" and "You just need to lighten up" don't exactly sound like great legal defenses...
@rockettestpilot
SexyPranky is definitely not the usual April 1st prank you'd see and certainly not the less prudent. This is why we obviously say to our customers before buying:
- If you are not 100% sure the recipient will understand the novelty of the item, DO NOT SEND.
- You may NOT use our service to threaten, constitute harassment, violate a legal restraint, or any other unlawful purpose. You agree this is a gag gift, novelty service for entertainment ONLY and that is their only intension.
Of course, the final appreciation of the prank will depend on the person receiving the package and this is why most of people ordering this prank are sending it to very close people (best friends, wife/ husband, sisters/ brothers): they know their friends, they know that it will make the "victim" inconfortable for a few minutes but most importantly laugh about it for years and years. And that’s what we aim for, giving you an epic and surprising way to prank "that one friend".
As crazy as it sounds, people are not that bad and more people than we think have a pretty good sens of humor. You’d be surprised to see how many customers want their victim to know that they are the pranker and how many "victims" send us « thank you » messages.
Furthermore, even if we play around with the marketing « get revenge from that one friend we all have », this is definitely not an « harassment » product. You don’t plan to intentionally harass someone by ordering a package with your complete name, address and credit card info and I’m sure bad intentioned people are more creative.
Considering the « sexual » aspect, we choose evocative pictures but nothing including real complete nudity or pornographie. So far the packages has been accepted and shipped by different postal services worldwide. And if the old good USPS consider this as shippable, I’m personally see this as a good sign :).
I'd conclude in saying that of course you never know how people can react. It's up to you, as a person, to take your responsibility and decide if you're willing to take "the risk" and send that package. If someone is coming on SexyPranky to find an easy way to harass an enemy, it's definitely the wrong place.
Peace & Love :)
@jordansuccar
Thanks for replying. If you don't mind, I have one more concern that I think would be good for you to have an answer for. It's based on two things you said that in your response that stood out to me. At first, you wrote "If you are not 100% sure the recipient will understand the novelty of the item, DO NOT SEND." But at the end, you also wrote that "of course you never know how people can react." So, here's the new concern that came from reading those two quotes:
> 1. If a person is not 100% certain that your product will be received well, then it should not be sent. (Asserted by the first quote.)
> 2. It can never be known how your product will be received. (Asserted by the second quote.)
> 3. Therefore, it should never be sent.
Up to this point, the exact name for this type of deduction is "modus ponens." That's just a fancy name for what is basically just simple logic. But my concern doesn't end there...
> 4. Both of the quotes came from you.
> 5. So, you're aware that your product should never be sent.
> 6. Therefore, you're aware that you are sending products when you shouldn't.
The implication is that even if you want to say that it's up to your customer to decide if they want to take the risk, it seems to me that you are still legally (and ethically) liable because you are knowingly sending products when you shouldn't. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I think only gun companies in the USA are protected from the kind of lawsuit this would attract. So... how are you actually protected from liability?
(Again, maybe you don't share my ethical concerns and think I should lighten up about all of this. But I'm just really curious about these legal aspects of your product. I'm not a lawyer or anything, just a curious designer who realizes that there are legal aspects to be considered in all designs, so I'm very interested in your reasoning since I can't figure it out myself.)
Are the products of 'prank-quality' or are they actually proper products that would be sold elsewhere?
Because if its just a normal product then why couldn't people order it from anywhere else?
A little heads up that the english on the landing page is a bit muddled so double check :)
Hey @bentossell , thanks to the landing page, just fixed it.
So basically last year my GF and I just did it for fun. We didn't even have the boxes when we launched the website. Only after we received many orders we made stickers, bought regular boxes and basically went to the post office with hundreds of really embarrassing and poorly made packages (imagine the postman face when we tried to explain the situation with our funny french accent). The result was still very good and we received many thank you messages from our customers.
This year, we wanted to take it to an other level. We made a real package that truly looks like your victim ordered a suspicious product online. The quality is way better and the design is so hilarious, you'd even want to keep the SexyPranky you received as a trophy (or ship it to someone else...).
Of course you can ship a old fashion DIY prank package to your friend yourself and it's actually how SexyPranky started. But trust me, you don't want to face the judging face of the postman when you present it what you're paying real money to send :)
@jordansuccar no problem :)
Yeah I totally get that... but - if I ordered a naughty gift from X's Naughty Shop and got it delivered to me friend... they would receive a gift, in a branded box, and it would be embarrassing. Also would seem like they ordered it.
So I was just wondering what is the difference if I did it through you vs X's Naughty Shop (not a real shop, that I know of btw haha)
@bentossell well, first I just google X's Naughty Shop and it looks like it exist haha but no worries Ben, no judgement here.
Well, "X's Naughty Shop" would ship it in a regular package because they know you don't want the postman and people around to see that you're a potential "petit coquin".
When you order on SexyPranky.com, it's this opposite: the package has been designed only to show the world what you're online purchases habits are... And that's why it feels so good to prank "that one friend"
@jordansuccar Ok I see...
So hopefully this conversation has proved that I did not know about that shop prior... and that I have never ordered anything 'risky' online or I would've know about packaging...
Could even offer the packages but put anything they want inside... so I could send @rrhoover a package that was absurd on the outside, but inside was actually a LaCoix
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