So, this Jimmy Kimmel guy challenged American parents to give their kid a not-very-nice Christmas present and to videorecord the reactions! Take a look - the video compilation is about 5 mins.

What do you think, yo - funny or cruel? Would you do this to your kids? Would you have reacted this way when you were a kid?

I can't view that particular video, since I'm at work but I heard about it on the radio...

I couldn't bring myself to do it - but I don't think it's "cruel" either.

Haha I laughed so hard when I saw that. Especially the last one about the kid saying Jimmy Kimmel can suck his balls. LOL

It is indeed funny. It is also a violation of the trust that parents have built with their children, and as such I could not do that to my hypothetical children. I want to maintain that trust.

I would not have reacted negatively. I would have thanked my parents for my present, whatever it might have been because I would have been afraid of being whipped if I treated my parents with any disrespect whatsoever.

It does seem that some of the kids are a bit young to understand the concept of a practical joke! I suppose it depends whether their parents are often playing practical jokes, and the kids have become initiated into the whole practical joke idea, and have a stable understanding of their parents as people who play practical jokes and whom they can trust regardless! On the Hallowe'en vid, there was one girl who clearly knew it was a joke, and laughed and found the candy! Whereas others were confused and devastated!

I guess it is possible that the parents and children could have a certain rapport that allows for practical jokes to be played without loss of trust, but that is not something I would have with my children, if only because I am not good at practical jokes.

For me, as a child, my parents and other adults like teachers and principals were the last word on everything. Whatever they said I could trust and believe, any discovered lie from them was devastating, removing a significant amount of trust. I don't think I could purposely destroy that trust with children who had absolute faith in me.

I watched it and wanted it to do it. I'm a bad mummy! I must confess I laughed quite hard at the videos too... it's not my fault though. Years of You've Been Framed as a child has obviously conditioned me to laugh at other peoples misfortunes.

Ooops got so carried away with the laughing at the videos that I didn't see your questions.

Yup, I would have balled my eyes out as a kid if my parents had done that. But if they then told me it was a joke (I guess depending on age) I think I would have laughed.

I know I'm probably bad for finding it funny - particularly the kid they show 3 times who got the Hello Kitty thing - he just reminded me of Dudley out of Harry Potter.

@Lady he seemed incredibly spoiled to me. Everyone else's reaction seemed normal; sad, tears, disappointment, all cute and funny. XD That kid however got on my nerves. :-/

LOL I can't believe I missed that but you are so right, he was exactly like Dudley.

The little blonde with the bow in her hair was the cutest she just did not understand why she got a half eaten sandwich HA. Some of those kids seemed a bit outta control like the one yelling that his parents sucked. I believe I would have said thank you as a child my brother and sister may have gotten mad if they had this joke played on them. My niece would simply say "Uh... This is a bad present can I open something else?" These gifts were not opened on Christmas morning (which would have been cruel) its not a cruel thing to do later on when the kids watch it they will laugh at them self.

Haha - I thought the blonde girl with the bow was a bit prissy! I loved when her brother was all 'I'll eat it!' and she was clearly annoyed, giving her fist a little shake, because that made him look like the better person! Her brother was loving every minute of it - I loved when he tried to tell her she should appreciate it, and he had difficulties pronouncing 'appreciate'. Like, their mother probably goes on and on about how they should appreciate her wonderful cooking, and the little girl is probably normally the good one, saying all the right things, and now suddenly the boy gets the chance to be the good one, and get a free sandwich out of it! ;D

Then she got all defensive saying the DID appreciate her mom's cooking, but she wanted a better gift. ;D

Gosh, and then she listed the things her mother "cooked" like hot pockets. LOL.

Yes, she was clearly torn between wanting to be the good little appreciative angel that everyone probably praises her for being, and expressing righteous indignation at a half-eaten sandwich as a present! ;D

I have no idea what a hot pocket is, but I was guessing from the audience's laughter that it's some processed junk food rather than proper home-made cooking! Gosh, I now have a mental image of their mother giving them hot pockets and making them express their deep appreciation to her for them! I mean, gosh, little kids don't go round saying how much they love their mother's cooking, unless their mother makes a deal of it, and lets them know she wants them to say that!

I saw this last week, and lost it laughing. I think it's funny to see how some of them reacted. If this happened to me as a kid, I would've been really disappointed, but I was also told to accept any gifts with a thankyou regardless of if you liked it or not. I probably would have my confused face on though! If I did this now, my son wouldn't really register he's still too young, but I would consider it when he gets a bit older, I'm mean!

I showed my Dad & his comment about the boy that got the Hello Kitty shirt was "Your attitude is probably why you got the shirt. You'd be lucky to get that much from me." And I have to agree. I mean it sucks as a boy to get a girls gift, but his level of a melt down tells me that he probably acts like that a lot. I mean his parents didn't seemed fazed by it, which tells me that attitude is normal for that boy.

Personally, I'm use to practical jokes in my house, especially on me, so I would probably be mad at first but once I found out it was a joke I'd probably laugh while saying it wasn't funny. I was taught at a young age that even if you don't like a gift from someone you should be respectful & at least say thank you & just exchange it at another date. And you can bet I would do it to my kids, but probably when they are at an age to better understand practical jokes & pranks.

@Mistress I completely agree about the kid w/ the HK shirt. His tantrum is quite off putting and he seems much more spoiled than the rest of the kids. Everyone else I just giggled at which is probably a bit mean thanks to their sad little faces. xD

@Love♥nik exactly, I actually started to feel rather awkward while watching him. Like I felt bad that the parents don't see anything wrong with his behavior. As an older sister I get embarrassed when my sister acts like she can be a snotty spoiled little brat, so I can only imagine how I would feel if would feel if that was my child. Granted my child would get a swift kick to the ass if they acted like that. Yes, I'm one of those people that believes in spanking their kids.

@Mistress ditto. One year apparently I made such a fit about something that my mom took a toy back (it was this life size doll and I was like 3) so I know to be thankful. I mean yeah the gifts suck but all the other kids reacted normally: sad, tears, and/or disappointed. Not... screaming and hitting parents and saying they suck. That was just awkward and clearly the kid is spoiled. :-/

@nik totally spoiled did you see how the presents were stacked under that tree? If I was his parents his presents would be going to needy kids or back to the store. And he'd get coal from Santa. I'd make sure if my kids ever acted like that they only do it once.

It seems quite common from the responses that it was normal for us to ALWAYS thank our parents for our presents. It reminds me of a Christmas in which my parents asked me if I had gotten everything on my list to Santa, and actually there was ONE thing that I didn't open, but there was no way in hell I was going to tell my parents that I didn't get everything I asked for. So I said yes. Well, the one thing WAS there. It had just been hidden from view, and then my parents are like, "I guess you didn't want it that much if you didn't remember it." No, you naughty parents! It was just rude to point out you missed something. I always felt miffed that I had been so courteous and it had back fired on me.

omg. this.is.great. I loved the sister/brother who got the finger nail clippers and the half eaten PB&J. And the little brother is like, "Shoot I'll eat the sandwich! You should be grateful!" Seriously bro. You are so right!

I guess because it would be something I would do..I found it funny! The one kid saying "STUPID PARENTS!" was a little dramatic lol And the last kid telling Jimmy Kimmel to suck his...well you know...should have been slapped! But overall I thought it was hilarious. I loved the little blonde girl, Marissa, "You gave me a sandwhich?" "Yeah, what do you always say about my cooking?" "I, I love it....but why is it like that??" lol

Hah! That's hilarious! It does point out how materialistic Christmas is. It isn't about giving, it's about getting.

I felt bad for the little boy who got the Hello Kitty shirt. He reacted SO BADLY that it made me wonder if he gets teased by other kids by being called a girl and the parents just didn't know. But I have a tendency to think better of people even when they don't deserve it, so maybe he IS spoiled or really sensitive. I probably would have cried if it happened to me because I would have thought my mom was being mean to me. I agree with previous posters who said that it's different if the child understands what a practical joke is and trusts their parents. I hope to have that kind of relationship with my kids, and would totally troll them like that if I knew they would laugh later.