Yelp Is Not Suing South Park for $10 Million
A satirical site just hilariously punked the Internet.
In a recent episode titled “You’re Not Yelping,” South Park did what it does best and managed to take the piss out of not only Yelp, but Yelp reviewers and business owners who sometimes depend so heavily on the service for new customers and online good will. A story spread Wednesday via Twitter made it seem as if an enraged Yelp had filed a $10 lawsuit against the show and its creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and the news was attributed to NBC. Problem was, those trading the link over social media apparently weren’t taking a close look at the actual URL: NBC.com.co. Yelp isn’t suing South Park, the article is a hoax.
Yep has debunked the story with a tweet on its verified feed.
As Abraham Lincoln once said, you can't believe everything you read on the internet. #Satire #ItsAJoke #Chill pic.twitter.com/4G1BwCgwAZ
— Yelp (@Yelp) October 21, 2015
A spokesperson for Yelp also told Maxim that rumors about Yelp suing South Park are “entirely untrue and [were] started by a satire site that has received far too much media credibility. We have no interest in legal action against the fantastic team that makes the South Park magic happen.”
NBC.com.co’s registration info is private, but it is parked on servers owned by SuperOfficialNews.com, which states that it is run by Paul Horner, “an American hero who also has the biggest penis in the world.”
If that isn’t already a bit of overkill toward emphasizing the fact NBC.com.co is just another site that confuses making up bullshit with satire, the writer of the hoax about Yelp vs.South Park did actually drop a pair of paragraphs in the piece that should’ve acted as blaring sirens indicating it was made up:
Fappy The Anti-Masturbation Dolphin, a mascot for a Christian anti-masturbation organization, says the company is losing business because of Yelp reviewers.
“Before being listed on Yelp we had no problem going around the country speaking to elementary school children about the dangers and consequences of masturbation. Now, with our poor reviews on Yelp, people are beginning to question our morals and ethics, like that is so important. Just because I have been arrested three times for public masturbation and each case was pardoned by the Governor, doesn’t mean our federal funding and government support had anything to do with it. With the assumptions made by Yelp reviewers, they are causing deadly self-rape addictions in this country to continue and in the end it is Big Masturbation that wins. Such a shame.”
A couple of apparently serious publications fell for the gag (they know who they are), but we have to hand it to Yelp for being good sports.
NBC.com.co has already been featured on ThatsFake.com, which noted it previously pulled off a hoax story about the rock group Survivor suing anti-gay marriage Kentucky clerk Kim Davis.
Welcome to the internet. Please make sure your bullshit meter stays in the “ON” position at all times.
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