Max Fosh pulled a good-natured prank on airline passengers. It ended up as the BBC’s most-read story.

Max Fosh has engineered his fair share of stunts. Last year, he broke into a security convention. A few months later, he started a fake company so he could be richer than Elon Musk for seven minutes. His shenanigans have brought nearly one million subscribers to his YouTube channel.

Fosh’s latest prank has caused quite a stir — even by his standards. On an empty field next to London’s Gatwick Airport, Fosh and his friends erected a message that reads “Welcome to Luton.” In this case, “Luton” refers to London Luton Airport, a transit hub 58 miles away from Gatwick. Once airplane passengers started reading the message, it became big news. At one point, a BBC article about the prank was the most-read story on the broadcaster’s website.

In a behind-the-scenes video, Fosh said he was inspired to pull the prank after learning about a Milwaukee man who wrote “Welcome to Cleveland” in big letters on his roof. For his version of the stunt, the British comedian honed in on Gatwick, which is surrounded by empty fields. “I went door-knocking on fields next to Heathrow and Gatwick and a lovely couple said, ‘yeah we’ve got an 80 meter long patch of land we don’t have any use for,’ Fosh told the BBC. “So I said ‘great can I get my tarpaulin out and start hammering pegs into the ground?'”

The Luton airport is widely regarded as the worst in the London area, so Fosh’s sign took some airplane passengers for a ride. Once they touched down in Gatwick, they realized the nature of the prank, and all they could do was laugh (and tweet) about it. The stunt quickly went viral, resulting in one million views for Fosh and the publication of the widely-read BBC story.

Fosh’s bit of fun is a reminder that practical jokes don’t need to be mean-spirited in order to go viral. I hope other pranksters learn from this moment and think up stunts that are both shocking and ultimately harmless. And what better way to teach that lesson than by keeping the ‘Welcome to Luton’ sign in the Gatwick fields? After all, plenty of airports have notable landmarks nearby. Preserving this sign would respect the size and prowess of London’s thriving creator community.