Plant City pillow prank goes viral

Charles Harris proudly posted a picture of his newly wrapped banquettes July 28, on Facebook. Otherwise known as couches, the owner of the Holiday Inn Express off Park Road was excited to share one of the final touches of the lobby’s renovations. Sitting on the couch was one pillow. A minor detail in the scheme of things. But, it didn’t go unnoticed by his friends. 

That pillow has been called everything in the comments — “a foofy artichoke looking thing,” “a plant,” “butt ugly”— to name a few monickers. Let’s just say it wasn’t very popular around town. But, that all changed once Brian West got his hands on it. 

A close friend of Harris, West waltzed into the lobby before he left on a business trip to North Carolina last week. He told the front desk clerk, Aaron Schutz, not to call Harris. And before Schutz could even bat an eye, West had walked right out with the pillow under his arm. He posted a picture on Facebook of the pillow in his truck before heading to Michael Cameron’s financial management office. There, they snapped even more pictures of it in the planter by the window. It camouflaged perfectly with the rest of the bushes. They tagged Harris in each one.

“Charles is fun to joke with,” West said. “People can be fun to cut up with when they take it well. He takes it very well.”

The joke didn’t stop there. He passed the pillow off to Cameron, telling him to find someone else to give it to to take more photos. 

From there, it went to Carole Wright’s desk at her accounting firm. Then, it took pictures with all of the “Man on the Street” sculptures in Plant City. Ironically, the same day, Harris had been invited to speak at the sculpture unveiling.

Over the course of a week, as each person passed it to the next, the pillow went further and further around Plant City. It stopped at the police station. It took a ride in a wheelchair and got a mammogram at South Florida Baptist Hospital. It got a new outfit at Southside Western & Outdoor Wear.

Soon, the Photoshop pranks set in. Someone put it diving over Niagara Falls and in Harris’ own photo— driving his car and sitting on his plate looking very artichoke-like at a restaurant.

The pillow got a haircut, read the Plant City Times & Observer and tested positive for toxic mold (but was sterilized in the same trip).

All of the pictures ended up on Facebook, going viral in local circles around town.

“Everybody was real creative,” West said. “For me, it’s a testament about social media and just how spontaneous it can be.”

Where the pillow ended up was just as spontaneous as its online life. After filling out applications at Rita Staffing, the pillow was able to secure a job with the city on a construction site. Sadly, it was involved in a gruesome accident, dying after being run over by a large piece of equipment. The picture went online. 

“Charles can be kind of anal,” West said. “I saw that picture and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, we’ve ruined it. It’s like a $250 or $300 pillow. It’s not something you can go buy at Target for $30.”

Little did West and Harris know at the time that Janet Kelly had made a stunt double out of construction paper. 

“I got a little concerned when I saw it halfway run over,” Harris said. “It was in a dirt parking lot getting all messed up. But, I have good friends with good intentions. It was out of my hands.”

The pranksters still had a funeral for the pillow at Wells Memorial and Event Center.

“(It was) very sad,” said Manager Verna McKelvin. “There were (six) mourners in the crowd. They shared memories of his adventure through Plant City. But they continued to ask one question: ‘Where is the next of kin for this poor little guy?’ I am still waiting for the next of kin to contact me to pick him up.”

Harris finally got his pillow back this week.

“It’ll be happy to sit back on the couch,” Harris said. “Maybe it’ll need armed guards around it. I might have to buy some more as decoys.”

Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.