Beloved Southern California burger joint In-N-Out is not finding any humor in a YouTuber’s prank video filmed at several of its restaurants.
Last week, In-N-Out filed a lawsuit against online prankster Bryan Arnett, who posed as an employee at multiple local restaurants, took orders from unsuspecting customers and made lewd comments while wearing In-N-Out-branded clothing.
In the video, which has since been restricted to private viewing, Arnett, a resident of Fillmore, is seen interacting with customers and making comments that In-N-Out says damage the chain’s reputation.
The pranks themselves were purportedly captured on Easter Sunday, at a time when the restaurants were closed, the lawsuit states.
“[Arnett] visited multiple In-N-Out locations in Southern California … wearing a
fake uniform bearing [In-N-Out]’s trademarks,” a lawsuit filed last Friday in United States District Court reads. “[Arnett] made lewd, derogatory, and profane remarks, such as stating that In-N-Out had cockroaches and condoms in its food, and that In-N-Out Associates put their feet in lettuce served to customers.”
The lawsuit also accuses Arnett of asking customers if they want their food made “doggy style,” a play on the restaurant chain’s famous “animal style” menu options.
He also tells one customer that they are “only serving gay people,” which leads to the customer driving away, and asks another if they would like to try the “monkey burger,” which comes with a “damn-near black bun.”
In one moment that the restaurant brand found particularly troubling, Arnett asks a customer if they would like to sleep with his wife and allow him to watch.
“I like watching my wife sleeping with other men. Is that something you’d be interested in?” he says in the video, as reported by SFGate.
He then posted the videos to his YouTube page, reaching approximately 330,000 subscribers, despite warnings from In-N-Out to remove them for infringing on the company’s trademarks and posting without the consent of the customers who were filmed.
After the lawsuit was filed, the main prank video was switched to private. On Monday, a follow-up video was posted in which Arnett commented on the filing. That video has also been taken down or removed from public viewing.
This wasn’t the first time Arnett has allegedly made prank videos at the expense of In-N-Out. Previous videos include him placing an employee of the month plaque with his own photo on a wall of a restaurant, and In-N-Out alleges he had previously been asked to leave one of its restaurants and refused.
In-N-Out, which is seeking a lifetime ban of Arnett from his restaurants, any money made from his video, and potential financial damages incurred, called Arnett’s stunt and the comments he made “defamatory, insulting, racially insensitive, bizarre, and lewd,” and said they did not come across as jokes but instead made the restaurant chain look bad.
In the since-removed follow-up video, Arnett says he is not particularly worried about the lawsuit and said, “whatever’s going to happen is going to happen.”