Most Genius, Elaborate, and Expensive Office Pranks of All Time

Materials Needed: Crime scene tape, photos, red evidence markers
Est. Cost To Execute: $20-$30*

We’re sure there is a long story behind this photo of a faux office crime scene (at least, we hope the crime scene is fake). Someone went above and beyond to turn a normal office into a scene of Law & Order, complete with tape outlines, pictures of suspects and the “victim,” and evidence markers near the “body.”

Who Ate The Last Doughnut? @cis_se_5/Pinterest

Oh, and you can’t forget the yellow caution tape. The origins of this mysterious prank are unknown (though this joke isn’t as ominous as the random ball-in-the-conference-room one), but, if we had to guess, we’d say it was an office dispute gone wrong. Or a seriously-detailed Halloween decoration.

Materials Needed: A bunch of paper and plastic garbage
Est. Cost To Execute: $0*

Sergey is in for quite a surprise when he arrives back at his office after what we assume was a fun vacation. His desk area has been turned into the office trash receptacle, and he’s going to have to call Waste Management if he wants a chance to get back to his desk within a reasonable time.

Trash Talking @onediocom/Pinterest

The picture made the rounds on social media, and users commented that, luckily, none of the trash looked gross. It is all mostly paper and plastic, and we’re sure this office worker would have had a much different reaction if people had been tossing their leftovers and old banana peels into his space.

Materials Needed: Takeout boxes in bulk
Est. Cost To Execute: $50-$200*

If you have a coworker who is obsessed with takeout food, he or she might like this prank. One office decided to prank their coworker, who loved ordering Chinese food. They bought a bulk amount of takeout boxes and stacked them in the cubicle space. As a finishing touch, a fortune cookie was added to the top of the pile.

Let's Eat In ©u/PrayForSnow/Reddit

Sadly, the prank’s target was probably upset that there was no delicious won-ton soup or dumplings in the containers. We wonder how long this prank must have taken; the boxes alone had to cost $50-$200. The effort is noteworthy. 

Materials Needed: Printouts of selfies
Est. Cost To Execute: $10-$30*

According to @DecentLeaf on Imgur, this was no ordinary prank. It was a prank on a notoriously “self-absorbed boss” (we’ve all had them, haven’t we?). In retaliation for the boss’ self-obsession, a coworker filled his office with brightly-colored selfies of the boss.

We Could Use More Of You @imgur/Pinterest

His desk, walls, and floor have been totally selfie-fied with a picture that looks straight out of an unflattering driver’s license or passport. We’re pretty sure the coworker, who was either hell-bent on remaining anonymous or about to be fired, got their point across with this display. 

Materials Needed: Balls for a ball pit
Est. Cost To Execute: $100 on Amazon*

@FunkyFreshMonke on Imgur noted that his work has an unusual tradition. Every single year without fail the entire office plays a prank on the same guy. What this man did to deserve the annual pranking is unclear. Maybe he takes jokes really well, or maybe everyone in the office just doesn’t like him.

You've Got Balls @imgur/Pinterest

The pranks don’t look too damaging, just inconvenient. In 2012, the office workers filled his cubicle to look like a giant ball pit. Short of being Chuck-E-Cheese, the office likely got trashed if the coworker cut the net and flooded the place with colorful, irksome plastic balls.

Materials Needed: Post-It Notes (a lot of them)
Est. Cost To Execute: $1.99 per 3” x 3” pack*

When one coworker goes on vacation, that is an optimal time for pranks like the ones seen here. The poster said that his friend did this Post-It note prank on her coworker when he took a vacation. The entire car is covered in painstaking detail by the bright, printed little pieces of sticky paper.

"Where Did I Park My Car?" ©u/Bzbzbzbz/Reddit

Even the mirror, tires, and license plate are covered. “Jim’s Ride” must have taken hours to complete, and we wonder what the coworker did to the friend first to lead her to retaliate with such single-minded focus and determination. We can’t see the front windshield, but we bet it’s covered too. 

Materials Needed: Seed-growing materials
Est. Cost To Execute: $10-$20*

This is one of those pranks that is a slow burn. Contrary to the shock-and-awe of, let’s say, having a toilet in your cubicle or your car being covered in Post-Its, this prank will take weeks, if not months, to come to fruition (pun intended).

Seedy Emails @hubspot/Pinterest

One coworker, with Jim-Halpert-like determination, planted seeds in another’s keyboard. The setup looks pretty elaborate, with at least $10-$20 worth of gardening supplies. Over time, the plants will grow through the keys to create a little garden in the last place the coworker would have suspected. As far as creativity goes, this prank is one of the top jokes on this list. 

Materials Needed: Empty Krispy Kreme box, veggie tray
Est. Cost To Execute: $10*

The undisputed hero of the office is the person who brings in doughnuts for everyone else. Krispy Kreme doughnuts are a classic, but one malicious coworker decided to be a psychopath, and April Fool’s everyone with vegetables. Inside a Krispy Kreme box is a veggie tray, complete with absolutely nothing as delicious as a sugar doughnut.

Krispy Karrots @scotchandsarcasm/Instagram

The prank was downright cruel, as well as a little bit funny. Hopefully, the coworker made it up to everyone else by buying them at least something a little unhealthy for lunch. Of all the jokes on this list, this one hurt the most.   

Materials Needed: Hundreds and hundreds of Twinkies
Est. Cost To Execute: $1,000-$2,000*

Ah, Twinkies. They are a legend in America, having been around since 1930. There is a long-standing rumor that these snake cakes would be able to survive a nuclear apocalypse, as they have a massively long shelf life. If there ever is such an event, the only things left will be Twinkies and cockroaches.

A Twinkie A Day Keeps The Doctor Away @PennState/Pinterest

Unflattering as that description may be, people still love them. One office decided to prank its Twinkie-loving coworker by filling their cubicle with hundreds upon hundreds of golden sponge cakes. Altogether, this prank must have cost $1,000 to $2,000, giving Twinkie sales a nice boost.  

Materials Needed: Unknown
Est. Cost To Execute: Unknown

Whoever this jokester is, we want to be let in on their secret. What is this ball made of? What is inside it? How did it fit into the room? We can only guess at the answers to these questions, and it’s possible that someone managed to sneak half the ball in at once and the other half later, connecting the two into a bizarre art piece when they were done.

He's A Real Baller Imgur.com/Imgur.com

It’s going to be hard for the boss to explain that meetings are canceled because a huge ball showed up in the conference room. This prank is reminiscent of random crop circles that show up in fields—very mysterious and ominous.    

Materials Needed: A real bear or a very realistic fake bear
Est. Cost To Execute: $200-$500*

We really hope this bear is fake. Either someone managed to tame and sneak a large grizzly bear into an office, or this is just a very elaborate prop. The coworkers peering over the cubicle nervously at the bear are the highlight of the photo, as they don’t seem too keen on their new coworker (who is too big to fit at a desk).

The Guy In Accounts Is A Real Bear @ThyAnon/Facebook

While you’re not likely to find a prop this good for cheap—and, the more closely we look at the photo, the more real this bear seems—you can always get one for $200-$500, if you don’t want a hyper-realistic bear.   

Materials Needed: A lot of tin foil
Est. Cost To Execute: $20-$40*

You have to admire the level of detail with this foiled desk. Someone with a lot of time on their hands and a lot of determination wrapped their coworker’s desk, chair, and every single item on the desk in Reynolds wrap. It must have taken hours.

Foiled Plans @snacknation/Pinterest

The cubicle looks like it is part of an alien spaceship from a terrible 1960s sci-fi movie. Even the edges of the desktop computers—both of them!—are wrapped in foil. The longer you look at this image, the more you realize precisely how much detailed effort it took.  

Materials Needed: Paper to make arms
Est. Cost To Execute: $10-$15*

Working from home has become more and more commonplace, but what are workers still at the office supposed to do if they get lonely? In order to create a feeling of creepy, Requiem for a Dream community, someone turned their mini-fridge into a new coworker, complete with paper arms typing at a computer.

The Temp @imgur/Pinterest

While we wouldn’t suggest going out and buying a mini-fridge to solely carry out a prank, you can attach arms to just about anything to turn it into a human. Office plant? Old shelf? Huge coffee cup? Just put fake paper arms onto it and it can become your new officemate. 

Materials Needed: Pulleys, hanging gear
Est. Cost To Execute: $15-$30*

Of all the pranks on this list, this one is perhaps the most elaborate and precarious. We’ve seen foil-covered desks and chairs, wrapping-paper desks, and cubicles filled with all sorts of weird stuff…but hoisting someone’s desk five feet into the air is a new one.

Hang Tight @ericasettle4469/Pinterest

One dedicated jokester used a system of (hopefully strong) pulleys to lift another’s chair and desk, complete with two computers, into the air. The pulleys are attached to something in the ceiling. This photo leaves us wondering how exactly the coworker is going to get all of this down without cutting the ropes and causing tons of damage.