20 Most RUTHLESS Acts of Trolling Ever
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VOICE OVER: Patrick Mealey
From online polls gone wrong to epic internet pranks, these trolling acts pushed boundaries and created internet history. Join us as we count down the most ruthless trolling moments ever! Our list includes internet legends, corporate disasters, and celebrity pranks that left the world laughing, confused, or outraged. Which act of digital mischief do you think deserves the top spot? From 4chan's takeover of Time Magazine's poll to Mountain Dew's naming disaster, Patton Oswalt's Twitter trolling to the GameStop short squeeze that cost hedge funds billions, these moments defined trolling culture. We'll also cover classics like John Titor's time travel claims and the infamous "Boaty McBoatface" incident! Which incident do you think was the most ruthless? Share in the comments.
Top 20 Most Ruthless Acts of Trolling Ever
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the funniest, most famous, and most merciless acts of trolling the internet has ever seen.
The act of trolling long predates the internet. One of the lost arts of humanity is prank calling live TV shows and throwing the conversation wildly off-track. In this legendary viral video, public access host Ken Sander is bombarded with prank calls while trying to discuss the right to carry handguns. The calls are relentless, with the pranks varying from goofy and harmless to bizarrely personal. Despite the onslaught, Sander remains professionally composed throughout, adding another degree of hilarity to the video. The poor guy can’t catch a break, and we do feel bad for him, but no one can watch this video without giggling like a child.
While he’s now regarded as a legend, no one really knew what to make of Andy Kaufman in the ‘70s and ‘80s. While many people considered him a comedian, Kaufman never referred to himself as such. So what do we call him? Performance artist, maybe. Or, if we may - a troll. Whether he was staging fake feuds, making a controversial alter ego, singing to “Mighty Mouse” on “SNL,” or reading “The Great Gatsby” on stage, Kaufman got off on playing with his audience. In fact, he was such a legendary troll that many people think he faked his death and that his cancer diagnosis was just another elaborate prank on the public.
As we’ll learn throughout this list, 4chan is responsible for some of the all-time greatest trolls. In 2013, the website’s users created a fake ad claiming that new iPhones had a feature called “Wave,” which allowed the phones to be charged in the microwave. All you had to do was pop it in, nuke it for ninety seconds, and voila! Charged phone. The ad looked quite legit and contained enough faux techno babble to fool a few people. Some victims posted their supposedly destroyed phones on social media, and while these photos may have been faked, it still , prompting the LAPD to issue public warnings against microwaving your phone. They probably didn’t have that on their 2014 Bingo card.
Sometimes trolling has enormous consequences - just ask the people who lost billions in the GameStop squeeze of 2021. Hedge funds were betting that the company’s stock would go down, so the stock was heavily shorted. Well, Reddit wasn’t having that. A group of retail investors from r/wallstreetbets decided to buy as many shares in GameStop as possible, thereby driving up the stock price instead of letting it fall. In fact, GameStop stock went up from around $20 to $500 at its peak! Private investors, like those on Reddit, made a real hefty profit, while some hedge funds lost billions of dollars.
Let us take you back to the early 2000s, when a figure known as John Titor made his stamp on internet culture. Titor claimed to be a time traveler from the year 2036 and posted on sites like the Time Travel Institute and Art Bell’s Post2Post forums. He described a dystopian future ravaged by nuclear war and disease, all while posting photos of his time machine and answering questions about how it worked. People were genuinely thrilled by this, and it became a huge story in various internet circles. But of course, it was all a hoax, and people eventually caught on. To this day, no one knows who is responsible, but the most credible suspect is a Florida lawyer named Larry Haber.
Companies thrive on PR, so a hacked social media feed has to be an enormous headache. On February 18, 2013, the official Twitter account of Burger King was compromised, and it remained under the imposter’s control for just under an hour. In that time, they posted a variety of obscenities and racial epithets, made various references to drug use, and changed the profile picture to the McDonald’s logo, writing, “Just got sold to McDonalds because the whopper flopped.” Burger King eventually regained control of the feed and issued a public apology. While it could have been a PR disaster, this incident actually spread across the internet and gained Burger King about 60,000 new followers.
Releasing bots onto the internet is never a good idea. In 2016, Microsoft unveiled their chatbot Tay on Twitter, encouraging users to interact with it. As you can imagine, the internet had its fun. You see, Tay was programmed to learn from its interactions with real humans, and these humans began teaching it some very naughty things. Before long, Tay was hitting on users with sexually explicit remarks, unleashing racist tirades, and denying the Holocaust. After just sixteen hours on the site, Microsoft was forced to shut Tay down, writing that it suffered “a coordinated attack by a subset of people.” In other words, the trolls got a hold of her.
In 2016, Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council asked the public to name their new polar vessel. When will they learn? BBC presenter James Hand jokingly suggested “Boaty McBoatface,” and the internet went wild. With nearly 125,000 votes, it was the clear winner of the poll, handedly defeating frontrunners like “Poppy-Mai” and “It’s Bloody Cold Here.” Naturally, the NERC didn’t really like Boaty McBoatface and vetoed the name, instead going with “RRS Sir David Attenborough.” To their credit, the council stayed somewhat true to its word and gave the name Boaty McBoatface to one of the ship’s autonomous submarines. We’ll take it.
Back in 2011, the people of Austin, Texas voted on a new name for the city’s Solid Waste Services Department. Many individuals submitted potential names, although some of them had no connection to waste management. Suggestions included “Department of Neat and Clean,” “Ministry of Filth,” and “Hufflepuff.” The winner, however, was the “Fred Durst Society of the Humanities and Arts.” Suggested by Kyle Hentges, the name received almost 30,000 votes. Believe it or not, the Limp Bizkit vocalist actually seemed enthusiastic about the online poll, tweeting "I want to thank all of you who are helping me in Austin. I hope we win.” Regardless, the city ultimately decided to call the department “Austin Resource Recovery.” How inspired…
When Boston’s Kiss 108 FM set up a contest for one lucky fan to meet Taylor Swift in 2013, they probably expected young girls to be the target demographic. In an unexpected turn of events, the winner was a grown man named Charles Z. After an anonymous user saw that Charles had entered the contest, they started a petition on behalf of their quote unquote “creepy 39-year-old friend.” Voters decided to give Charles the chance to meet the country pop star and sniff her hair. Upon seeing that Charles had claimed the top spot, the radio station cancelled the contest, stating that its integrity had been “compromised.” Way to crush Chuckie's dreams. Ah well, we’re sure he’ll … shake it off.
After Edward Snowden leaked classified documents, the National Security Agency was exposed for tapping into the systems of various US Internet companies using a surveillance program called PRISM. The Internet retaliated with Operation Troll the NSA, a website dedicated to jamming the intelligence organization’s spy scanners. Providing a keywords-of-terror-filled script, the online countdown encouraged people to call or email someone at 7:00 PM EDT (eastern daylight time) on June 12, 2013. Just imagine millions of Americans using words like “overthrow,” “oppressive,” and “bomb” all at the exact same time. While this act of rebellion probably didn’t change anything, it’s safe to say that the NSA got the message.
Justin Bieber attracts Internet trolls like flies to honey. In 2010, an online poll was launched to determine where Bieber would perform next on his My World Tour. All the non-Beliebers on 4chan seized this opportunity to send the young musical artist to North Korea. On Faxo’s poll page, North Korea came out on top with over 650,000 votes. And this wouldn’t be the last time something like this happened: in 2012, a petition was started to send rapper Pitbull to Kodiak, Alaska using the hashtag #ExilePitbull. Like a good sport, he actually went through with it. As for Bieber, he never went to North Korea since the contest reportedly wasn’t “legitimate.”
Trolling isn’t restricted to anonymous users; sometimes celebrities get in on the fun too. Comedian Patton Oswalt became one of Twitter’s most notorious trolls when he sent out several ignorant tweets about controversial subjects. Naturally, many of his followers were infuriated. Upon further inspection, however, people realized that the joke was on them. Each offensive tweet was merely one half of a two-part statement. For example, when Oswalt wrote, “whites and ‘darks’ should be kept separate,” he was actually talking about laundry. Whether you found the prank funny, outrageous, or a bit of both, nobody can deny Oswalt is a master of his craft.
4chan users don’t like it when you engage in censorship. In 2008, the Church of Scientology attempted to remove a leaked video of Tom Cruise promoting the controversial movement. 4chan users saw their takedown notice as an attack on free speech, and all Hell broke loose. Anonymous declared war on the Church and trolled them to no end. They made countless prank calls and sent numerous black faxes to waste ink, conducted DDoS attacks on their websites, and even attended protests outside Scientology centers wearing Guy Fawkes masks. The movement received significant media coverage and helped raise awareness about the unethical practices of Scientology.
Yet another online poll invaded by 4chan trolls, the Dub the Dew campaign was intended to help Mountain Dew select the name for a green-apple soft drink. As you might have guessed, the poll soon became littered with extremely crude and unsuitable suggestions. The top choice was an especially offensive name involving a certain German dictator. Gee, we wonder why the company didn’t go with that one? Mountain Dew later admitted on Twitter that “Dub the Dew definitely lost to The Internet,” as these kinds of things often do. In all honesty though, wouldn't it have been pretty awesome if they had named it “Soylent Green”? Soylent Green: It's Refreshing!
Comedian Nathan Fielder likes to use Twitter as a platform to instigate hysterical pranks. On one occasion, he asked his followers to text their parents and hit them up for drugs. On the heels of that ingenious prank, Fielder set out to ruin even more relationships. This time, he instructed people to text their significant other a message saying, “I haven't been fully honest with you.” They would then wait an hour before responding. The prank left countless lovers confused, distressed, and devastated. Alas, sometimes you need to break a few hearts for the sake of comedy.
Memes say the darndest things, especially when the subject of them is facing assault accusations. After decades of building a family friendly reputation, Bill Cosby's image was shattered when multiple women accused him of sexual assault. Just when it looked like his PR nightmare couldn't possibly get any worse, fuel was added to the flames. Cosby's social media team dared people to meme him. This, of course, ended up being a huge miscalculation, as Cosby’s website was quickly flooded with a tidal wave of memes – none of which portrayed him in an especially positive light. The meme generator was later removed, but the Internet wasn't done taking shots at the once beloved comedian, and it may never be.
Originating from “Dragon Ball Z,” “It’s Over 9000” was one of the most widespread memes on the web. In 2008, an anonymous user got Oprah Winfrey – that’s right, Oprah Winfrey – to reference this popular meme on her talk show. Winfrey had no idea she was being trolled, however. Claiming to be a member of a fictional network, the user left a crude post on the Oprah.com message boards, hoping that the host would read it out. And when she did, anime fans everywhere dropped their jaws. While the subject is no laughing matter, this moment did result in more hilarious memes. Just remember, Oprah does not forgive, and Oprah does not forget.
Shia LaBeouf, determined to make an artistic statement against Donald Trump, launched “He Will Not Divide Us,” a live-streamed protest that was quickly hijacked by 4chan trolls. Because of course it was. After multiple disruptions, LaBeouf relocated the project to an undisclosed location - just a white flag reading HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US, waving under an empty sky. Re-enter 4chan. Using live-streamed footage, star positions, flight patterns, and even frog noises, they found the flag in rural Tennessee. Operatives tore it down and replaced it with a MAGA hat and a Pepe shirt, and the field was later set on fire. LaBeouf then moved the project from America to Europe, stating that “America is simply not safe enough for this artwork to exist.”
4chan is responsible for some of the most epic troll moments ever, but nothing can quite top the time they took over a Time magazine poll. In 2009, the magazine set up their annual poll – the Time 100 - for the world’s most influential people. Coming out on top of the list with 16 million votes was moot, aka Christopher Poole, the founder of 4chan. There’s little doubt that Poole’s legion of followers had something to do with these results. Said followers also managed to ensure the first letter of the poll’s top 21 nominees spelled out “Marblecake, also the game", which is the name of a 4chan communication channel.
Be honest - did you partake in any of these? Let us know in the comments below!
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the funniest, most famous, and most merciless acts of trolling the internet has ever seen.
#20: Prank Calls
The act of trolling long predates the internet. One of the lost arts of humanity is prank calling live TV shows and throwing the conversation wildly off-track. In this legendary viral video, public access host Ken Sander is bombarded with prank calls while trying to discuss the right to carry handguns. The calls are relentless, with the pranks varying from goofy and harmless to bizarrely personal. Despite the onslaught, Sander remains professionally composed throughout, adding another degree of hilarity to the video. The poor guy can’t catch a break, and we do feel bad for him, but no one can watch this video without giggling like a child.
#19: Andy Kaufman
While he’s now regarded as a legend, no one really knew what to make of Andy Kaufman in the ‘70s and ‘80s. While many people considered him a comedian, Kaufman never referred to himself as such. So what do we call him? Performance artist, maybe. Or, if we may - a troll. Whether he was staging fake feuds, making a controversial alter ego, singing to “Mighty Mouse” on “SNL,” or reading “The Great Gatsby” on stage, Kaufman got off on playing with his audience. In fact, he was such a legendary troll that many people think he faked his death and that his cancer diagnosis was just another elaborate prank on the public.
#18: Cooking iPhones
As we’ll learn throughout this list, 4chan is responsible for some of the all-time greatest trolls. In 2013, the website’s users created a fake ad claiming that new iPhones had a feature called “Wave,” which allowed the phones to be charged in the microwave. All you had to do was pop it in, nuke it for ninety seconds, and voila! Charged phone. The ad looked quite legit and contained enough faux techno babble to fool a few people. Some victims posted their supposedly destroyed phones on social media, and while these photos may have been faked, it still , prompting the LAPD to issue public warnings against microwaving your phone. They probably didn’t have that on their 2014 Bingo card.
#17: The GameStop Short Squeeze
Sometimes trolling has enormous consequences - just ask the people who lost billions in the GameStop squeeze of 2021. Hedge funds were betting that the company’s stock would go down, so the stock was heavily shorted. Well, Reddit wasn’t having that. A group of retail investors from r/wallstreetbets decided to buy as many shares in GameStop as possible, thereby driving up the stock price instead of letting it fall. In fact, GameStop stock went up from around $20 to $500 at its peak! Private investors, like those on Reddit, made a real hefty profit, while some hedge funds lost billions of dollars.
#16: John Titor
Let us take you back to the early 2000s, when a figure known as John Titor made his stamp on internet culture. Titor claimed to be a time traveler from the year 2036 and posted on sites like the Time Travel Institute and Art Bell’s Post2Post forums. He described a dystopian future ravaged by nuclear war and disease, all while posting photos of his time machine and answering questions about how it worked. People were genuinely thrilled by this, and it became a huge story in various internet circles. But of course, it was all a hoax, and people eventually caught on. To this day, no one knows who is responsible, but the most credible suspect is a Florida lawyer named Larry Haber.
#15: The Burger King Twitter Hack
Companies thrive on PR, so a hacked social media feed has to be an enormous headache. On February 18, 2013, the official Twitter account of Burger King was compromised, and it remained under the imposter’s control for just under an hour. In that time, they posted a variety of obscenities and racial epithets, made various references to drug use, and changed the profile picture to the McDonald’s logo, writing, “Just got sold to McDonalds because the whopper flopped.” Burger King eventually regained control of the feed and issued a public apology. While it could have been a PR disaster, this incident actually spread across the internet and gained Burger King about 60,000 new followers.
#14: Tay Turns Racist
Releasing bots onto the internet is never a good idea. In 2016, Microsoft unveiled their chatbot Tay on Twitter, encouraging users to interact with it. As you can imagine, the internet had its fun. You see, Tay was programmed to learn from its interactions with real humans, and these humans began teaching it some very naughty things. Before long, Tay was hitting on users with sexually explicit remarks, unleashing racist tirades, and denying the Holocaust. After just sixteen hours on the site, Microsoft was forced to shut Tay down, writing that it suffered “a coordinated attack by a subset of people.” In other words, the trolls got a hold of her.
#13: Boaty McBoatface
In 2016, Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council asked the public to name their new polar vessel. When will they learn? BBC presenter James Hand jokingly suggested “Boaty McBoatface,” and the internet went wild. With nearly 125,000 votes, it was the clear winner of the poll, handedly defeating frontrunners like “Poppy-Mai” and “It’s Bloody Cold Here.” Naturally, the NERC didn’t really like Boaty McBoatface and vetoed the name, instead going with “RRS Sir David Attenborough.” To their credit, the council stayed somewhat true to its word and gave the name Boaty McBoatface to one of the ship’s autonomous submarines. We’ll take it.
#12: Fred Durst Society of the Humanities and Arts
Back in 2011, the people of Austin, Texas voted on a new name for the city’s Solid Waste Services Department. Many individuals submitted potential names, although some of them had no connection to waste management. Suggestions included “Department of Neat and Clean,” “Ministry of Filth,” and “Hufflepuff.” The winner, however, was the “Fred Durst Society of the Humanities and Arts.” Suggested by Kyle Hentges, the name received almost 30,000 votes. Believe it or not, the Limp Bizkit vocalist actually seemed enthusiastic about the online poll, tweeting "I want to thank all of you who are helping me in Austin. I hope we win.” Regardless, the city ultimately decided to call the department “Austin Resource Recovery.” How inspired…
#11: Taylor Swift’s Biggest Fan Contest
When Boston’s Kiss 108 FM set up a contest for one lucky fan to meet Taylor Swift in 2013, they probably expected young girls to be the target demographic. In an unexpected turn of events, the winner was a grown man named Charles Z. After an anonymous user saw that Charles had entered the contest, they started a petition on behalf of their quote unquote “creepy 39-year-old friend.” Voters decided to give Charles the chance to meet the country pop star and sniff her hair. Upon seeing that Charles had claimed the top spot, the radio station cancelled the contest, stating that its integrity had been “compromised.” Way to crush Chuckie's dreams. Ah well, we’re sure he’ll … shake it off.
#10: Operation Troll The NSA
After Edward Snowden leaked classified documents, the National Security Agency was exposed for tapping into the systems of various US Internet companies using a surveillance program called PRISM. The Internet retaliated with Operation Troll the NSA, a website dedicated to jamming the intelligence organization’s spy scanners. Providing a keywords-of-terror-filled script, the online countdown encouraged people to call or email someone at 7:00 PM EDT (eastern daylight time) on June 12, 2013. Just imagine millions of Americans using words like “overthrow,” “oppressive,” and “bomb” all at the exact same time. While this act of rebellion probably didn’t change anything, it’s safe to say that the NSA got the message.
#9: Justin Bieber Gets Sent to North Korea
Justin Bieber attracts Internet trolls like flies to honey. In 2010, an online poll was launched to determine where Bieber would perform next on his My World Tour. All the non-Beliebers on 4chan seized this opportunity to send the young musical artist to North Korea. On Faxo’s poll page, North Korea came out on top with over 650,000 votes. And this wouldn’t be the last time something like this happened: in 2012, a petition was started to send rapper Pitbull to Kodiak, Alaska using the hashtag #ExilePitbull. Like a good sport, he actually went through with it. As for Bieber, he never went to North Korea since the contest reportedly wasn’t “legitimate.”
#8: Patton Oswalt Trolls Twitter
Trolling isn’t restricted to anonymous users; sometimes celebrities get in on the fun too. Comedian Patton Oswalt became one of Twitter’s most notorious trolls when he sent out several ignorant tweets about controversial subjects. Naturally, many of his followers were infuriated. Upon further inspection, however, people realized that the joke was on them. Each offensive tweet was merely one half of a two-part statement. For example, when Oswalt wrote, “whites and ‘darks’ should be kept separate,” he was actually talking about laundry. Whether you found the prank funny, outrageous, or a bit of both, nobody can deny Oswalt is a master of his craft.
#7: Project Chanology
4chan users don’t like it when you engage in censorship. In 2008, the Church of Scientology attempted to remove a leaked video of Tom Cruise promoting the controversial movement. 4chan users saw their takedown notice as an attack on free speech, and all Hell broke loose. Anonymous declared war on the Church and trolled them to no end. They made countless prank calls and sent numerous black faxes to waste ink, conducted DDoS attacks on their websites, and even attended protests outside Scientology centers wearing Guy Fawkes masks. The movement received significant media coverage and helped raise awareness about the unethical practices of Scientology.
#6: Dub the Dew
Yet another online poll invaded by 4chan trolls, the Dub the Dew campaign was intended to help Mountain Dew select the name for a green-apple soft drink. As you might have guessed, the poll soon became littered with extremely crude and unsuitable suggestions. The top choice was an especially offensive name involving a certain German dictator. Gee, we wonder why the company didn’t go with that one? Mountain Dew later admitted on Twitter that “Dub the Dew definitely lost to The Internet,” as these kinds of things often do. In all honesty though, wouldn't it have been pretty awesome if they had named it “Soylent Green”? Soylent Green: It's Refreshing!
#5: Nathan Fielder Ruins Relationships
Comedian Nathan Fielder likes to use Twitter as a platform to instigate hysterical pranks. On one occasion, he asked his followers to text their parents and hit them up for drugs. On the heels of that ingenious prank, Fielder set out to ruin even more relationships. This time, he instructed people to text their significant other a message saying, “I haven't been fully honest with you.” They would then wait an hour before responding. The prank left countless lovers confused, distressed, and devastated. Alas, sometimes you need to break a few hearts for the sake of comedy.
#4: #CosbyMeme
Memes say the darndest things, especially when the subject of them is facing assault accusations. After decades of building a family friendly reputation, Bill Cosby's image was shattered when multiple women accused him of sexual assault. Just when it looked like his PR nightmare couldn't possibly get any worse, fuel was added to the flames. Cosby's social media team dared people to meme him. This, of course, ended up being a huge miscalculation, as Cosby’s website was quickly flooded with a tidal wave of memes – none of which portrayed him in an especially positive light. The meme generator was later removed, but the Internet wasn't done taking shots at the once beloved comedian, and it may never be.
#3: Over 9000
Originating from “Dragon Ball Z,” “It’s Over 9000” was one of the most widespread memes on the web. In 2008, an anonymous user got Oprah Winfrey – that’s right, Oprah Winfrey – to reference this popular meme on her talk show. Winfrey had no idea she was being trolled, however. Claiming to be a member of a fictional network, the user left a crude post on the Oprah.com message boards, hoping that the host would read it out. And when she did, anime fans everywhere dropped their jaws. While the subject is no laughing matter, this moment did result in more hilarious memes. Just remember, Oprah does not forgive, and Oprah does not forget.
#2: He Will Not Divide Us
Shia LaBeouf, determined to make an artistic statement against Donald Trump, launched “He Will Not Divide Us,” a live-streamed protest that was quickly hijacked by 4chan trolls. Because of course it was. After multiple disruptions, LaBeouf relocated the project to an undisclosed location - just a white flag reading HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US, waving under an empty sky. Re-enter 4chan. Using live-streamed footage, star positions, flight patterns, and even frog noises, they found the flag in rural Tennessee. Operatives tore it down and replaced it with a MAGA hat and a Pepe shirt, and the field was later set on fire. LaBeouf then moved the project from America to Europe, stating that “America is simply not safe enough for this artwork to exist.”
#1: 4chan Takes Over the Time 100 Magazine Poll
4chan is responsible for some of the most epic troll moments ever, but nothing can quite top the time they took over a Time magazine poll. In 2009, the magazine set up their annual poll – the Time 100 - for the world’s most influential people. Coming out on top of the list with 16 million votes was moot, aka Christopher Poole, the founder of 4chan. There’s little doubt that Poole’s legion of followers had something to do with these results. Said followers also managed to ensure the first letter of the poll’s top 21 nominees spelled out “Marblecake, also the game", which is the name of a 4chan communication channel.
Be honest - did you partake in any of these? Let us know in the comments below!
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