Melbourne man starts global 'cone-ing' craze

A Melbourne prank billed as "the new planking" has become an international sensation online.

"Cone-ing" involves ordering a soft serve cone at a fast food restaurant’s drive-through and then grabbing hold of the ice cream, rather than the cone, when served.

Melbourne man Alki Stevens, who has claimed responsibility for starting the trend, began cone-ing five years ago but initially did not receive nearly as much attention for the prank, despite uploading videos to YouTube two years ago.

His most recent video, which shows him performing the stunt at a number of fast food restaurants around Melbourne, was posted on the video sharing website last Monday and has been viewed more than 1.3 million times.

The 24-year-old has been "shocked" by the popularity of the video, entitled "CONE-ING IS THE NEW PLANKING".

"I put the video up last Monday and when I woke up the next day, it was on 20,000 views," he told ninemsn.

The self-described comedian said he could not explain his most recent video's skyrocketing popularity but believed it was partly thanks to other websites and blogs that have linked to it.

He also admits the use of the word “planking” in the title may have helped increase exposure.

The idea for the strange stunt grew out of his love of "making people uncomfortable and confused".

Fans from all around the world are sharing his hobby, posting dozens of copycat videos on YouTube.

Americans in particular are embracing the trend and Stevens has been sent more than 300 cone-ing videos, mostly from around the US, including Washington, Wisconsin and Massachusetts.

US news outlets have picked up on the trend with Good Morning America, one of the country's most-watched morning programs, running a piece on the bizarre stunt.

Viral websites Gawker and Buzzfeed also featured the video.

Stevens has also been interviewed on radio stations in America about the trend and is surprised it hasn’t been as popular in his native country. "It's not really known [in Australia]… but I think it will get bigger," he said.

The cone-ing Facebook tribute page has more than 4500 fans, with a number of people uploading their own videos as well as complimenting Mr Stevens on starting the craze.

"Soooo funny Alki your [sic] a genius," Jarrad Greig said.

Mr Stevens may make some money out of his viral success. He has reached the finals of radio station NovaFM's Unhatched video competition, in which he could win $10,000 if he is announced the winner later today.

He believes he is in with a "pretty good chance", given his recent global exposure.

14 Jun 2011

Another news article newsworthy of a mention on a national scale.

One of the roles of the mass media is to keep the general populous amused.

This is done quite simply by drawing attention (advertising) moronic events.

An item once on the 'news' is an advertisement for the product, which is a well known fact within the industry.

News stories that focus on the moronic content of an article are actually promoting it.

This is one way of taking focus away from the real matters of politics and business that dictate our lives.

A recent visit to Melbourne indicated that there was NO GLOBAL trend, at least in Melbourne anyway of people by the drove 'coning'.