Minor League Baseball Team Pulls Off Viral Proposal Prank

The New Britain Rock Cats, a minor league baseball team from Connecticut pulled off a pretty good promotional prank that’s going seriously viral this week.

The video shows a guy, David, proposing to his girlfriend, Jessica, in the middle of a minor-league baseball stadium. Here's how it plays out: He proposes, she steps back in shock, the goofy mascot gets the crowd cheering, and the announcer says, "She looks excited." But, she is not excited. Jessica replies, "No."

Meanwhile the announcer who is facilitating the whole thing seems to be having way too much fun. "I don't mean to laugh! The answer is no. She said no. (He laughs.) I don't think we've ever had this happen before!"

A dramatic exit by the couple running off the field leaves the crowd in disbelief. Or not?

Witnesses and commenters online began to analyze. Jessica's reaction looked genuine to some. But let's not forget how convincing Julia Roberts was in "Runaway Bride." Jessica could have very well been a stage actress rehearsing for her big proposal dump scene.

Chris Chase of USA Today wrote that he was "leaning toward fake" when referring to the video. Witnesses and commenters online seemed torn. John Poutre commented on the YouTube video, "I was there, my first thought was that it was fake. But what would the point of that be?"

The Vice President of Marketing for the team, Mike Abramson released this statement: “New Britain Rock Cats games feature fun, creative promotions tied into every game, and micro-promotions between most innings. After watching a public proposal, we talked about what would happen if the answer were NO, and how that might affect a crowd, and those viewing it after on video. We worked with two of our staff on the skit and executed a digital strategy to set the video on a viral path; we could not be more pleased with the outcome. If anyone was offended by the promotion in any way we sincerely apologize; this endeavor was intended to entertain and remind fans you never know what you’re going to see at a Rock Cats game.”

In 2007, College Humor posted a fake marriage proposal that will make you laugh out loud. It's a little different, more of a friend-on-friend stunt in a prank war. Watch it here.

The two employees-turned-actors must have had a good laugh.