Payless Pulls A Great Prank

Shoe store, Payless, has pulled off the ultimate prank on social media influencers.

How did they pull this off you ask?

Well, they did a play on their name and switched around a few letters and opened up a fake pop-up store called "Palessi".

This pop-up shop was located in Los Angeles, and Payless invited social media influencers to the "grand opening"

The trick however was to see if the influencers would splurge excessive amounts of money on Payless shoes.

"I would pay $400 or $500," a woman says in a TV ad, holding a pair of $19.99 sneakers. 

You gotta give Payless some credit though. They even created a fake website and Instagram account. 

Over 80 influencers attended the pop shop over two nights and spent over 3,000 dollars. Some of the shows were marked up over 1,800%. 

Payless said the social experiment was meant to remind shoppers that Payless' affordable shoes are fashionable too.

"The campaign plays off of the enormous discrepancy and aims to remind consumers we are still a relevant place to shop for affordable fashion," Payless CMO Sarah Couch told Adweek.

Once the store revealed it's prank. Social media had a great reaction.

I mean, you have to hand it to Payless.

What a great marketing technique. 

For more information on this epic prank, check out CNN.