You've Been 'Mingoed!
August 17, 2014 2:19 PM Subscribe
"We are sorry you are a Jimmy Buffet fan, this is your cross to bear."
posted by The Whelk at 2:24 PM on August 17, 2014 [11 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 2:24 PM on August 17, 2014 [11 favorites]
I'm taking the house, here's some flamingos so you have something to remember the day by.
posted by arcticseal at 2:26 PM on August 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by arcticseal at 2:26 PM on August 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
Really surprised that this wasn't Flock o Flamingos, as featured on Legends House.
posted by uncleozzy at 2:27 PM on August 17, 2014
posted by uncleozzy at 2:27 PM on August 17, 2014
I'm sorry for being an asshole; let me make it up to you with a prank.
posted by tofu_crouton at 2:31 PM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by tofu_crouton at 2:31 PM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
I know people who would genuinely appreciate this gift so it's not entirely a prank service.
posted by R343L at 2:36 PM on August 17, 2014 [8 favorites]
posted by R343L at 2:36 PM on August 17, 2014 [8 favorites]
This is a common fundraiser with the local Girl Scouts. Your lawn gets invaded and for a certain fee you can cause them to move onto someone else's lawn. Technically you can have them moved on for free but I've never heard of someone doing that.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:37 PM on August 17, 2014 [13 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:37 PM on August 17, 2014 [13 favorites]
I've had flamingos in my yard long before I ever heard of Buffet. I would appreciate the hell out of this "prank".
posted by Thorzdad at 2:39 PM on August 17, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 2:39 PM on August 17, 2014 [4 favorites]
I think waking up to find a lawn full of pink flamingos with no explaination, flamingos that don't go away but stare at you with hard, judgmental ideas is an excellent Twilight Zone cold open.
posted by The Whelk at 2:39 PM on August 17, 2014 [14 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 2:39 PM on August 17, 2014 [14 favorites]
This used to be a thing that was done a lot in the eighties, at least in my suburban Ontario town. They did other things besides flamingoes, too, like "Lordy, lordy, look who's forty" signs or whatever.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:43 PM on August 17, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by Sys Rq at 2:43 PM on August 17, 2014 [5 favorites]
How it works:
Under the cover of darkness, we sneak out in the middle of the night and plant a flock of 3-D plastic pink flamingos in your unsuspecting "victims" front yard. Our large, signature greeting sign with your customized message announcing the occasion will accompany the flock.
Imagine their surprise in the morning when they awake to 45 bright pink flamingos grazing in their lawn!!
I'm trying to imagine how this would go over in some parts of Tennessee if the homeowner happened to wake up in the middle of the night.
My friends and I in high school used to delight in lawn forking, which wasn't appreciated nearly as much as 45 pink flamingos probably would be, no matter how much time we put into ensuring that the lucky recipient couldn't pull out more than one fork at a time.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 2:44 PM on August 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
Under the cover of darkness, we sneak out in the middle of the night and plant a flock of 3-D plastic pink flamingos in your unsuspecting "victims" front yard. Our large, signature greeting sign with your customized message announcing the occasion will accompany the flock.
Imagine their surprise in the morning when they awake to 45 bright pink flamingos grazing in their lawn!!
I'm trying to imagine how this would go over in some parts of Tennessee if the homeowner happened to wake up in the middle of the night.
My friends and I in high school used to delight in lawn forking, which wasn't appreciated nearly as much as 45 pink flamingos probably would be, no matter how much time we put into ensuring that the lucky recipient couldn't pull out more than one fork at a time.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 2:44 PM on August 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
I would totally love this as a gift, if I had a front yard. What does the centerpiece flamingo wear? Why are there no photos of this?
posted by jeather at 2:48 PM on August 17, 2014
posted by jeather at 2:48 PM on August 17, 2014
How it works:
Under the cover of darkness, we sneak out in the middle of the night and plant a flock of 3-D plastic pink flamingos in your unsuspecting "victims"[sic] front yard.
And how will this interact with the castle doctrine, I wonder.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:49 PM on August 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
Under the cover of darkness, we sneak out in the middle of the night and plant a flock of 3-D plastic pink flamingos in your unsuspecting "victims"[sic] front yard.
And how will this interact with the castle doctrine, I wonder.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:49 PM on August 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
Mrs. Bastard had this done for me with 40 flamingos when I turned 40 back a few years ago. I was delighted.
posted by Cookiebastard at 2:53 PM on August 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Cookiebastard at 2:53 PM on August 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
Yes! This was a huge thing in SW PA in the late 70's-early 80's. Flamingos. Discarded toilet seats sometimes. One winter it was these metal saucer sleds flipped upside down in the snow overnight and wreathed in blinky lights. Trees draped in black crepe paper for 40th birthdays. My mom was the ringleader of a lot of these pranks so it seemed quite fitting that when SHE turned 40, the entire neighborhood turned out for a "Look Who is 40's" Mardi Gras style parade with a band.
posted by jeanmari at 2:57 PM on August 17, 2014 [15 favorites]
posted by jeanmari at 2:57 PM on August 17, 2014 [15 favorites]
Looks like the going purchase price for a pink flamingo is around $2, so they can just call it a wash if someone decides to keep them.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:57 PM on August 17, 2014
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:57 PM on August 17, 2014
Sys Rq: This used to be a thing that was done a lot in the eighties, at least in my suburban Ontario town.
Alberta too, especially after this ad hit the airwaves.
posted by hangashore at 3:01 PM on August 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
Alberta too, especially after this ad hit the airwaves.
posted by hangashore at 3:01 PM on August 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
I was seriously tempted to flamingo the house I grew up in, and my family moved out of 25 years ago, because random. (37064 represent!)
But it turns out you can do this almost everywhere. Boring.
posted by erniepan at 3:06 PM on August 17, 2014
But it turns out you can do this almost everywhere. Boring.
posted by erniepan at 3:06 PM on August 17, 2014
Brentwood/Williamson county tends toward the wealthy side of life, so picture with McMansions. It's not a monolith by any means, but Forbes does list Williamson County in its top 25 wealthiest counties if that gives an indication.
I used to have a lone flamingo that I managed to move with me from place to place, along with a log: for girls, I wonder where they are now...
posted by dawg-proud at 3:06 PM on August 17, 2014
I used to have a lone flamingo that I managed to move with me from place to place, along with a log: for girls, I wonder where they are now...
posted by dawg-proud at 3:06 PM on August 17, 2014
I want this service available to me in my area.
but with cthulu.
posted by el io at 3:19 PM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
but with cthulu.
posted by el io at 3:19 PM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
Lots of party rental stores do this. My parents did it to my husband when he turned 30 several years ago, and my parents' friends did it to my mom when she turned 40 like 25 years ago. (The flamingos came with a gravestone that said "LORDY LORDY LOOK WHO'S FORTY.")
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 3:22 PM on August 17, 2014
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 3:22 PM on August 17, 2014
We covered a friends driveway with about 400 tiny snowmen when they were out of town a few years ago. Like hundreds of gnome sized snowmen that they had to drive over to get into the garage. They said they felt like snowmen murderers. Prank success!
posted by fshgrl at 3:39 PM on August 17, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by fshgrl at 3:39 PM on August 17, 2014 [5 favorites]
We covered a friends driveway with about 400 tiny snowmen when they were out of town a few years ago. Like hundreds of gnome sized snowmen that they had to drive over to get into the garage.
posted by Fizz at 4:15 PM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 4:15 PM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
What I really need is someone to perform a stage version of Pink Flamingos on people's front porches on demand.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:21 PM on August 17, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:21 PM on August 17, 2014 [4 favorites]
We covered a friends driveway with about 400 tiny snowmen when they were out of town a few years ago.
Tell us more! How long did it take? How did you manufacture so many?
The logistics of this feat must be explicated!
posted by winna at 4:37 PM on August 17, 2014
Tell us more! How long did it take? How did you manufacture so many?
The logistics of this feat must be explicated!
posted by winna at 4:37 PM on August 17, 2014
We did the flamingo thing to my school principal one year. 64 of them materialized on the soccer field one snowy day
posted by peppermind at 5:06 PM on August 17, 2014
posted by peppermind at 5:06 PM on August 17, 2014
I want this! But I wouldn't give the flamingos back. They'd come back 24 hours later and they'd all be GONE. Mwa ha ha ha!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:12 PM on August 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:12 PM on August 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
My very odd father has always hated the neighbors. When I was in high school he lined the flamingos so that they were facing the neighbor's garden. That winter, he made tiny santa hats for each of them.
posted by Pardon Our Dust at 5:13 PM on August 17, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by Pardon Our Dust at 5:13 PM on August 17, 2014 [6 favorites]
Tell us more! How long did it take? How did you manufacture so many?
A couple hours maybe? There were three people and one child involved, although I'd say two of us made 75% of the little snowmen in less than an hour. They were each just three snowballs stacked up, we thought they'd be creepier* if they were tiny. The front row and the ones around the edges had arms and eyes. Until the person in charge of finding and placing sticks got bored of it or ran out of sticks. In the dark you couldn't really see the back ones anyway so we figured good enough. I think the eyes were m&ms someone had in their pocket. Definitely Calvin and Hobbes inspired work.
We were intending to shovel the driveway to be nice friends but then we (ok, I) thought an army of minions was a better use of the snow.
*Friends got back after midnight so creepy was the goal.
posted by fshgrl at 5:23 PM on August 17, 2014 [11 favorites]
A couple hours maybe? There were three people and one child involved, although I'd say two of us made 75% of the little snowmen in less than an hour. They were each just three snowballs stacked up, we thought they'd be creepier* if they were tiny. The front row and the ones around the edges had arms and eyes. Until the person in charge of finding and placing sticks got bored of it or ran out of sticks. In the dark you couldn't really see the back ones anyway so we figured good enough. I think the eyes were m&ms someone had in their pocket. Definitely Calvin and Hobbes inspired work.
We were intending to shovel the driveway to be nice friends but then we (ok, I) thought an army of minions was a better use of the snow.
*Friends got back after midnight so creepy was the goal.
posted by fshgrl at 5:23 PM on August 17, 2014 [11 favorites]
Nothing evokes the end of the world more than a lawn covered in flamingos, scattered on twisted stilts, swaying across the manicured grass of middle class suburbia. Primitives, when in despair, would commit suicide by swimming out to sea until they could swim no longer. The American consumer commits suicide by endlessly stabbing the dirt with plastic paraphernalia.
posted by klue at 6:02 PM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by klue at 6:02 PM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
We get some of that in our neighborhood in Rutherford County (immediately adjacent to Williamson) but usually in the name of "Young Life" or some such nonsense.
(37064 represent!)
Born and raised 1972-'99. Moved to the 'Boro when "progress" made it too damned expensive to live there. The 6 acres my parents bought/built on for $28k in '72 recently appraised for a half $mill. I'm thankful they don't have to worry too much in their retirement.
Lawn, Get Off, Etc.
posted by rhythim at 6:05 PM on August 17, 2014
(37064 represent!)
Born and raised 1972-'99. Moved to the 'Boro when "progress" made it too damned expensive to live there. The 6 acres my parents bought/built on for $28k in '72 recently appraised for a half $mill. I'm thankful they don't have to worry too much in their retirement.
Lawn, Get Off, Etc.
posted by rhythim at 6:05 PM on August 17, 2014
If these guys called themselves the "Uber of putting pink flamingos in strangers' lawns" they'd be worth $1.5 billion.
posted by elwoodwiles at 6:30 PM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by elwoodwiles at 6:30 PM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
This was a fundraiser for my school's debate team! They offered flocking, counter flocking and flocking insurance services. Apparently it did very, very well.
posted by Just Another Entity at 6:50 PM on August 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Just Another Entity at 6:50 PM on August 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
I've already been seeing this done in Sacramento. I think the zoo has something to do with it.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:26 PM on August 17, 2014
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:26 PM on August 17, 2014
I used to do this to all of my houses on The Sims! Maybe Wilde was on to something with all that "life imitates art far more than art imitates life" stuff.
posted by Ned G at 2:27 AM on August 18, 2014
posted by Ned G at 2:27 AM on August 18, 2014
Pink lawn flamingo flocking pranks.
This is perhaps the weirdest bit of Americana trivia I've ever learned about through metafilter.
posted by zarq at 4:08 AM on August 18, 2014 [4 favorites]
This is perhaps the weirdest bit of Americana trivia I've ever learned about through metafilter.
posted by zarq at 4:08 AM on August 18, 2014 [4 favorites]
My mom once pulled a year long prank on a friend where whenever my Mom traveled somewhere she would take a postcard or a photo of pink flamingos and mail it to her friend, unsigned. When she knew someone who was traveling she'd give them a picture with the friend's address and have them mail it from wherever they were going. So for a year leading up to the friend's birthday, she was getting in the mail random pink flamingo pictures with postmarks from all over the world, and had NO idea why or who could be behind it.
posted by dnash at 9:32 AM on August 18, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by dnash at 9:32 AM on August 18, 2014 [3 favorites]
Where I grew up, this was a thing, and you'd see it at least a few times per year.
I was surprised to learn that in most cities, this is not a thing.
Pink Flamingos FTW!
posted by St. Peepsburg at 9:57 AM on August 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
I was surprised to learn that in most cities, this is not a thing.
Pink Flamingos FTW!
posted by St. Peepsburg at 9:57 AM on August 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
flocking insurance services
That's brilliant. I will inform the Girl Scouts.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 12:05 PM on August 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
That's brilliant. I will inform the Girl Scouts.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 12:05 PM on August 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
This is a perennial class fundraiser in the town where I teach. I think they leave a note explaining it, too. Never heard of flocking insurance. That's good, though.
posted by alphanerd at 12:28 PM on August 18, 2014
posted by alphanerd at 12:28 PM on August 18, 2014
I'm just glad they are 3D flamingos and not some crazy creepy 2D flatland creatures or fourth-dimensional hyper-color hyper-space trans-dimensional space-mingoes.
posted by aydeejones at 6:20 PM on August 18, 2014
posted by aydeejones at 6:20 PM on August 18, 2014
Fun Verbiage Suggestions
posted by aydeejones at 6:23 PM on August 18, 2014
Look what flew in for Jill’s 40th Birthday!How about, "I don't give a flying flamingo fuck what day it is, I'm just some troll on the internet lulzzzzz"
The flock is in shock, Jack is 50!
Bob might be an old bird at 60 but he still has flare!
We flocking love you Tina, Happy 30th Birthday!
The flock is tickled pink, Jack and Jill are tying the knot!
Pink and Sassy, Welcome to the world little Maggie!
Bob has flown the coop, Happy Retirement!
Mary, You still tickle me pink! Happy Anniversary!
posted by aydeejones at 6:23 PM on August 18, 2014
We are anonymous. We are legion. Please enjoy this Waka Flocka Flamingos as a kind reminder to be nice on the Internet. You know what you done did.
posted by aydeejones at 6:26 PM on August 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by aydeejones at 6:26 PM on August 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
I, I will stand tall
And you, you will stand by
And nothing will drive us away
We can be there, just for one day
We can be pink birds, just for one day
posted by maudlin at 6:37 PM on August 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
And you, you will stand by
And nothing will drive us away
We can be there, just for one day
We can be pink birds, just for one day
posted by maudlin at 6:37 PM on August 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
I've already been seeing this done in Sacramento. I think the zoo has something to do with it.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:26 PM on August 17
The Nashville Zoo has flamingoes. It doesn't appear to have anything to do with this business though, which is too bad. It's a fun zoo.
posted by joannemerriam at 11:18 AM on August 19, 2014
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:26 PM on August 17
The Nashville Zoo has flamingoes. It doesn't appear to have anything to do with this business though, which is too bad. It's a fun zoo.
posted by joannemerriam at 11:18 AM on August 19, 2014
Oh god I so want to do this to my parents now. Except they live in New Zealand where we have never heard of such things. I guess I'd do it on my birthday to see if that helps them guess, otherwise just give the birds a sign that says "Hallo!".
What a great tradition.
posted by shelleycat at 3:06 PM on August 19, 2014
What a great tradition.
posted by shelleycat at 3:06 PM on August 19, 2014
I have to say the results of googling "new zealand moa lawn ornament" were terribly disappointing.
(As was "inflatable moa" but that's a different matter)
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 5:01 PM on August 19, 2014
(As was "inflatable moa" but that's a different matter)
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 5:01 PM on August 19, 2014
« Older Playing Magic with Geek Friends | Iceland From Above Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 2:23 PM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]