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2 YouTube pranksters successfully nominated a British reality star for the Nobel Peace Price to prove how meaningless Trump's nominations are

Oct 1, 2020, 15:50 IST
Insider
Josh Pieters and Archie Manners successfully nominated Gemma Collins for a Nobel Peace Prize.Josh Pieters and Archie Manners / YouTUbe
  • YouTubers Josh Pieters and Archie Manners successfully nominated British reality television star Gemma Collins for the Nobel Peace Prize.
  • The tricksters wanted to take some of the glory away from President Trump for his nominations, so looked into the rules and regulations of becoming a nominee.
  • They set up a website for a fake peace institute called Romford Research Institute for Peace and registered it as an official company.
  • The Norwegian Nobel Institute accepted their application as an eligible peace institute, which gave the YouTubers three nominations.
  • Their nomination for Collins was accepted, as was their entry for Mickey Mouse.
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YouTube pranksters Josh Pieters and Archie Manners returned with another daring video this week where they nominated a British reality television star for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The tricksters wanted to take some of the glory away from President Trump, who has been nominated for the prize three times so far, so looked into the rules and regulations of becoming a nominee. Alongside heads of state and professors, one way to become an eligible nominator was to be the director of a peace institute.

Pieters and Manners set up a flashy looking website for their fake peace institute called the Romford Research Institute for Peace (RRIFP) and registered it as an official company. It was soon accepted by The Norwegian Nobel Institute, which meant they could officially submit up to three nominations.

Their first choice was the star of multiple reality TV shows, most notably "The Only Way is Essex" and "Big Brother," Gemma Collins.

Donald Trump and Gemma Collins both have nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize.MANDEL NGAN, Joe Maher / Getty

Pieters and Manners made her case for deserving the prize in a letter to The Norwegian Nobel Institute, citing her falling through the stage at an awards ceremony in the UK as an "act of unification" for the nation, and the "GC effect," which they claimed could bring peace to North Korea.

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They also mentioned her work on "TOWIE" and her peaceful resolution to her "tumultuous relationship with Mr James Argent."

"The conflict came to a peaceful resolution, and the couple were able to share territories in relative harmony," the letter reads. "Indeed, the death toll from 'TOWIE' stands at an admirable zero."

Neither Pieters nor Manners expected their nomination to be taken seriously, until they received an email saying Gemma Collins would be considered.

"Your nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize 2021 has been successfully submitted," the emails read. "The Norwegian Nobel Committee appreciate your effort in making this nomination."

At the end of the email was a link to make another entry, so Pieters and Manners nominated Mickey Mouse too for his peaceful work as a detective in Mouseton.

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Pieters told Insider they probably won't have any further correspondence with The Norwegian Nobel Institute unless Collins actually wins. The Institute doesn't discuss nominations after they have been submitted because it is supposed to be a confidential process.

"Only the nominator knows who has been nominated really until the winner is announced, so it's all shrouded in a bit of mystery," he told Insider. "But it is legit, [Collins] is currently a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize."

He said it was such a huge and controversial story that Trump had been nominated, they wanted to shine some light on what a nomination actually entails.

"People were saying, 'How is this possible? He should never have been nominated,'" he said. "Our video highlights how that system isn't actually all that people think it is."

The pranksters sent out a press release from their peace institute revealing that Collins had been nominated for the prize, and it received a fair amount of attention in the UK press. They even appeared on the radio to explain why Collins deserved the prize this year: "As far as we know, she hasn't killed anyone."

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Overall, the experiment aimed to show that a Nobel Peace Prize nomination isn't as much of a big deal as it sounds.

"The world shouldn't go into complete meltdown over Trump's nomination," Manners told Insider. "Because look, two blokes with a YouTube channel managed to nominate someone who clearly doesn't deserve it."

Watch the full video below:

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