McMirage: Fake McDonald’s Sign Punks Desert Travelers

Yahoo Travel
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A prankster/artist planted a McDonald’s sign deep in the South Australian desert. (Photo: Liveaction4wding/YouTube)

By Billie Cohen

How far would you trek for a Big Mac? Through the Australian outback? That’s what some pranksters were trying to get tourists to fall for when they recently posted a “McDonald’s Opening Soon” sign in South Australia’s Simpson Desert.

Here in the States, some might think it’s a bit too early for jokes about poorly planned treks through the desert. But we’ll admit it’s at least a little funny, and in Australia, folks are having no trouble finding the humor. Even the Environment Minister was reported by the Australian AAP as saying, “We do see the funny side of the McDonald’s sign in the middle of nowhere.”

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So does the owner of the Mungerannie Hotel, who agreed to plant the sign outside the hotel to show off Aussies’ ability to make (and take) a good joke. As the AAP article goes on to point out, the closes Mickey D’s is still 600km away.

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Responsibility for the prank was claimed by an artist (shocker) who had planned it for a year, but responsibility for removing the sign fell to a park ranger, who had to travel 12 hours from Port Augusta to remove it.

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