Fun-loving trio get in on the act with ‘milking’ internet craze

The bizarre concept of people pouring cartons of milk over their head in public places has been brought to Edinburgh courtesy of three pranksters looking to emulate the wacky deeds associated with Jackass co-creator Johnny Knoxville.

Brothers Dylan and Connor Clack, of Broomhouse, teamed up with friend Matthew Browne, 18, to film a two-minute video of them ‘milking’ at locations around the city.

The clip was made last Friday and posted on social media website YouTube the following day, attracting more than 1000 views in 24 hours.

No location has been spared, with the trio filming scenes on top of a bus stop, outside a restaurant, at a pedestrian crossing and even in a tree.

Dylan, 18, said he had been tipped off about the craze by his mother, adding: “She showed us a clip and we just thought it’d be funny. It was really cold so we had to stop for a second to warm up each time.

“But it’s been worth it. It was fully funny for us to watch and lots of people have watched the video and said they liked it, so that’s pretty cool.

“We brought a change of clothes and changed half-way through. My brother didn’t change once though.”

The sequence starts outside the Usher Hall on Lothian Road. The pranksters then progress to the Grassmarket and up to Edinburgh University’s Bristo Square.

A rubbish collector was stopped to film the video’s final scene in which all three teenagers pour milk over their heads at once. Milking started south of the Border, with a group of students and graduates from Newcastle coming up with the wacky concept.

Copycats have since been spotted in Nottingham and Cirencester as students recreated their own viral version of Milking Newcastle. One video was even filmed at posh Oxford University.

Dylan and Matthew work part-time in the retail industry, while Connor, 17, is a student at Tynecastle High School. Having fun has been the trio’s sole motivation behind the pranks.

Dylan said: “We laughed lots when we watched it, so we thought if we did it we’d laugh at each other whilst doing it. It’s fun filming the pranks. We just randomly decided to do that one.

“People said ‘I thought that was really funny, but can I just ask why you were doing it?’ Some people knew we were milking, but most people were shocked.”

Scottish Dairy Academy manager Alec Turnbull said he did not find the fad offensive, adding: “If it’s raising the profile of milk and it’s not too much of a public nuisance, let’s go with it whilst it’s there.

“What people do with milk once it’s purchased is down to them.”

The trio’s pranks have not been limited to milking – they have filmed clips with a range of concepts – from dangling a fake spider in people’s faces to collapsing to the ground on crutches amongst crowds – around the Capital since September.

Milk also takes pride of place in one of their other clips posted at www.youtube.com/outloudonbuses. They filmed themselves drinking litres of flavoured milk before throwing up.

Dylan said: “When we first started it was because we watched lots of these videos on YouTube. We did notice that there were none in Edinburgh, no Edinburgh pranksters, so we thought we’d start doing pranks because it seems like fun.

“One of our videos called ‘Funny Awkward Public Pranks’ got two thousands views in a day.”

The trio are keen to move on to new ideas and leave milking behind. The next clip is tentatively entitled “Disturbing the Peace” – filming themselves falling over shop displays.