A prank built on a fake Apple Pay sound has turned into more than $250,000 for the man it targeted, a Red Baron pizza stocker from Michigan who told the people filming him exactly how unfunny it was.
The clip was shot in August, according to Red Baron’s parent company, but it took off across Instagram, X and Reddit this week. By Thursday, October 29, a GoFundMe set up by a stranger had passed the quarter-million mark and named the worker as its beneficiary.
The ten-second gag that backfired
The setup is a familiar one in prank videos. A young content creator walks up to a man restocking frozen pizzas in a grocery store freezer and asks him the time. When he pulls out his phone, the prankster plays a fake payment chime and animation, making it look as if $10 had just been taken from him.
The worker does not laugh. He explains that his shift should have ended an hour earlier and that he has to be up at 5 a.m. to cover ten more stores. Then comes the moment that carried the video: he tells the prankster he is probably making money from the clip while the man on camera cannot cover his own mortgage, and that he has four children at home waiting for him.
The account whose watermark appears on the footage looked to have been deactivated by Friday.
From pile of comments to pile of donations
Viewers sided with the worker almost at once. “The most valid crash out I have ever seen,” one wrote. Another compared it to the opening of a 1990s revenge thriller.
The fundraiser was started by a supporter who goes by WereTheBrews on Reddit and describes himself as a homeless veteran. He said he tracked the man down and spoke to him and his partner by video call. “He and his family are requesting privacy at this time, and are blown away with what is happening,” he wrote.
The worker, named on the campaign as Walt, has since posted his own thank-you on the fundraising page. “The kindness and encouragement you’ve shown me and my family have meant more than I can put into words,” he wrote, adding that he has kept things private to protect his family.
Supporters have now started donating to the organizer too, after learning he was living out of his car.
The brand joins in
Red Baron belongs to Schwan’s Company, the Minnesota frozen food maker that launched the pizza brand for grocery stores in the 1970s and has been majority-owned by South Korea’s CJ CheilJedang since 2019. The worker is one of its direct store delivery staff, the people who drive between supermarkets keeping freezer shelves full.
A company spokesperson said the business checked on the employee after the August incident and that he “remains a valued member of our team.” The pizza brand then went further on X, posting a mock notice that employee of the month nominations were closed, with the line: “He’s still here. He’s got a fan club. Including us.”
A quick timeline
- August 2026: the prank is filmed in a Michigan grocery store, according to Schwan’s.
- Wednesday, October 28: the clip spreads widely on X.
- Thursday, October 29: the GoFundMe passes $250,000 and lists the worker as beneficiary.
- Friday, October 30: the organizer reports more than $400,000, with a new goal of $700,000.
GoFundMe is handling the transfer of the money to the worker directly, the organizer said in his latest update.
Further reading
Image: Maryland Pride, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by our Editorial Desk. How we work.
