Jimmy Kimmel’s prank last night involving Tracy Morgan, Twitter, and a gullible American public proved a few things to be true: Tracy Morgan will do anything for a laugh, Jimmy Kimmel is a shameless self-promoter, and Twitter is the fastest way to spread misinformation.
During the show last night Kimmel brought Morgan up to the stage and asked him to lie down. After removing his nunchucks from his suit jacket, Morgan sprawled out on the stage. Kimmel then asked the TV audience to tweet “Oh my God – Tracy Morgan just passed out onstage at the Emmys – turn ABC on NOW!”
The “prank” was a thinly veiled plea to get more people to turn on ABC. It’s unclear how large the TV audience grew but according to Twitter TV at least 25,000 people sent out the message within a minute of Kimmel’s announcement.
OMG 25,000 tweets instantly thanks to OMG TRacy Morgan #Emmys — thanks @jimmykimmel !!
— Twitter TV (@twittertv) September 24, 2012
“OMG Tracey Morgan” was trending worldwide throughout most of the 2012 Emmy Awards last night. There’s no definitive proof, but the Twitter prank could be partly responsible for the Emmy awards big TV audience last night. More than 13.2 million viewers, up 6% from 2011, tuned in to see the Emmy Awards last night.
What did you think of Jimmy Kimmel’s Twitter prank last night?
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