A British holidaymaker has taken the battle for sunbed spots to a new level by sprinkling itching powder on towels left on loungers. Tom Caunce, 31, from Southport, filmed the prank during a family holiday in Majorca, and the video quickly went viral, amassing a combined total of 864,000 views.
Caunce said he targeted what he called 'repeat offenders'—holidaymakers who reserved sunbeds early in the morning and then left them unattended for hours. The idea came to him after he grew frustrated with the common practice of towel-based reservation.
Playful Payback Goes Viral
Caunce described his actions as 'a bit of playful payback.' He told creatorzine.com: 'I think we’ve all experienced the frustration of trying to get a sunbed on holiday. Many of us have accepted the 6am wake-up call just to have a chance of getting a decent spot. On my last holiday, I decided enough was enough and that it was time for a bit of playful payback.'
His first target was a woman in her late 40s, holidaying with her husband. After a 'walk-by sprinkle' of itching powder on her towel, Caunce said: 'As soon as she arrived at the pool she seemed annoyed. She immediately grabbed the towel from the sunbed and stormed back to her room to change it, while her husband stayed behind to reserve the spot.'
Second Target Suffers Full-Body Itch
Encouraged by the reaction, Caunce set his alarm for 6am the next day to find more targets. He spotted a couple who had reserved the same sunbeds as the previous day and rubbed itching powder into their towels. In the early afternoon, the man began scratching his legs. After about 10 minutes, he jumped into the pool. When he later dried himself with the towel, the irritation escalated into a 'full-body scratch.' The man eventually gave up sunbathing and spent the rest of the afternoon under an umbrella.
Caunce said: 'I tried to get more footage of it on a few occasions, but I couldn’t stop laughing. The reaction was priceless.'
Mixed Reactions Online
The videos sparked mixed responses. One viewer said: 'This is incredibly strange,' while another commented: 'It’s not ok to do this. Remove towels, yes, but this no.' However, some praised the prank: 'Oh, I love this! Just make sure you don’t do it to people who are just swimming and not reserving,' and another thanked Caunce 'for his service.'
