It started out as a prank to get some McDonald’s fries and maybe represent some diversity on the company posters. But their trickery eventually earned them an appearance on Ellen and $50,000!
Jevh Maravilla is a college student who put together a fake promotional poster and then hung it up at the local McDonalds restaurant in Pearland, Texas. He was joined in the prank by his friend, Christian Toledo.
The comrades in the shenanigans were invited earlier this week to appear on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” While with the famed talk show hose, Ellen surprised them with a check for $25,000 each, courtesy of McDonalds.
The two were inspired by the diversity in the film “Crazy Rich Asians.” They spent a month and about $100 to create the poster.
“We wanted to be Crazy Middle Class (Asians),” Toledo told DeGeneres.
Their antics became a social media sensation after Maravilla shared his effort with the world 51 days after he hung the poster. The chain never bothered to remove it!
The story keeps going. There will be an upcoming McDonalds campaign that will feature Maravilla and Toledo, DeGeneres said to their surprise.
“McDonald’s loves customers like you. They are committed to diversity and want to represent all their customers, so they are going to use the two of you in a marketing campaign,” said DeGeneres.
“Since you’re in a campaign, they need to pay you, right? So you’re each getting a check for $25,000.”
The two friends couldn’t believe their eyes and kept asking DeGeneres whether it was true.
You can watch the crazy interview with Jevh Maravilla and Christian Toledo from Ellen’s show below. Let us know what you think about their prank and the response from McDonalds. Are you surprised that the poster stayed up for so long? Are you blown away by the generous response from the fast food chain? Let us know what you think about this story below.