A year-and-a-half ago, Carlsberg struck marketing gold with a viral ad that saw random moviegoers being thrust into a theater filled with ornery-looking bikers.

Those who toughed it out were rewarded with some free beer and gang membership for life. Or maybe it was just the beer.

Anyway, flash forward to present day, and the Danish brewing company is once again putting strangers to the test for lulz, except this time, the marketing arena is saturated with similar "prank ads," each attempting to be more shocking than the last.

To match or beat their pretenders, Carlsberg decided to set up a full-blown nightmare scenario, and see if people were willing to unwittingly play along for the sake of their friends.

Picture this: It's 3 o'clock in the morning and your best bud calls you up to tell you he's been playing poker with some bad dudes in the wrong side of town, and his luck has just run out.

Would you help out?

Once again the perennial questions must be asked: How far are marketing agencies willing to take this trend? Will we only find out the answer once one of these "pranks" goes too far?

And, of course, the most intriguing question of all: How would this have played out in the States?

[H/T: Mashable]