‘A prank with a purpose’: Milwaukee distillery creates fake citations to raise money for Ukraine

By Alex Corradetti

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    MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (WDJT) — A distillery in downtown Milwaukee is pranking drivers, with a purpose.

If you park near Central Standard Distillery on West Clybourn Friday afternoon and find a ticket on your windshield, you may want to look twice. The tickets are a prank with a purpose.

“Our idea was to make these fake violations, so when people walk up to their car they get instantly upset and then instantly happy when they realize it’s a fake parking ticket and it’s a free cocktail downtown,” said Evan Hughes, co-founder of Central Standard.

Staff placed the fake tickets on parked cars and waited for people to react.

“I got done with brunch and came back to my car with what I thought was a parking ticket on it, but It’s not. It’s actually hilarious,” said Erin Brauer.

CBS 58 also spoke with Kanisha Phelps, who was upset at first.

“I was mad! I was like my husband is going to have to pay this ticket because I am not paying it!”

The ticket also paid people a few compliments.

“It says I’m an amazing driver!”

“It says I’m amazing and my car looks good, which is great because I got a car wash today!”

While this may be a joke, the prank does have a purpose. For every ticket redeemed during a happy hour from 4-6 p.m. Friday, April 1 at Central Standard, a $2 donation will be made to World Central Kitchen. It’s a charity feeding women and children fleeing the war in Ukraine.

“I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday afternoon than sipping a free cocktail for a good cause,” said Hughes.

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