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A young Kiwi man has gone global after a hilarious prank from his employer blew so far out of proportion that people from overseas started getting in on the act.��

Despite being his birthday, Thursday was supposed to be just another day for West Aucklander Jack Sparrow (yes, that’s his real name).��

Instead, the 21-year-old would become the butt of a prank that involved more than 500 people from across the globe.��

Unknown to Sparrow, his boss Brendon Day had put up a sign in the middle of Kumeu with Sparrow’s face plastered all over it.��

The sign featured instructions: “Today is Jack Sparrows 21st birthday. Text to wish him happy birthday”, with Sparrow’s number on display.��

Locals decided to play along. One text soon became five and photos of the sign soon appeared online before being shared in community groups around the country.��

Suddenly, a tsunami of texts, calls and voice messages hit Sparrow’s phone like a tonne of bricks.��

In his own words to the��Herald, he revealed he “didn’t know what the f... was going on”.��

West Aucklander Jack Sparrow was on the end of a prank that unintentionally involved more than 500 people across the globe. Photo / Brendon Day��

“I woke up and had the regular happy birthday phone call from Mum and Dad and a few close mates. But then I got a text from a random number which said ‘Happy birthday mate have a good one’. I messaged back saying thanks but I didn’t want to be rude and ask who it was. I thought it was someone’s number I hadn’t saved and so left it.��

“But after another message along the same lines, I bit the bullet and messaged back asking who is this because he kept messaging me asking how my day was going. He goes: ‘I know who you are but you don’t know who I am’.��

“Moments later I had a flood of messages from random numbers. I thought why do I have so many messages? I eventually messaged one of them saying ‘I need to know what’s going on’. The guy responded ‘Haven’t you seen the sign?’. I said ‘What sign?’ That’s when he sent me a photo of the sign.”��

By this time Sparrow had close to 100 messages come through. But it was only to be the start of his humorous torment.��

Some of those who had texted the 21-year-old decided to take the prank another step further.��

“I had one guy message me telling me about the sign, so I asked him where it was and he said: ‘It’s by the roundabout at Dairy Flat.’��

“I jumped in my car and drove all the way out there only to realise the sign wasn’t there. I texted the guy saying ‘It’s not here’ and he responded by saying ‘Haha shame’. I had driven all that way out there for nothing. I looked at the photo and eventually worked out where the sign was.”��

He drove around Kumeu looking for the offending billboard. He finally found it and planned to deal with it the way he knows best – cutting it down.��

As he hacked down the sign, he thought the gag was over. It wasn’t.��

The police happened to drive past as he was taking to the sign like a vandal. They wound down their window and said they wanted to speak to him. “This can’t be happening,” Sparrow thought to himself.��

Jack Sparrow celebrated his 21st birthday in rather strange circumstances - messages from 500 strangers across the globe. Photo / Michelle Sparrow��

“It just looks so dodgy because all these people have been vandalising the election signs,” he told the��Herald. “So the cops seeing this young guy cutting down a sign during the middle of the day looks dodgy.��

“The police slowed down to take a look. I thought, ‘Oh no here we go’. So I held up the sign, they read it, had a look at me, started bursting out laughing and sped off.��

“After seeing the photo in the local community group, I worked out it was my boss behind it. I called him and he ignored me.”��

For the rest of the day, Sparrow had to keep his phone off because it kept freezing and draining the battery.��

By the end of the night, he had 500 unread messages, more than 30 missed calls, a heap of voicemails and a lot of “Up the Wahs”.��

He had messages from all corners of the globe, some of which he said were really lovely.��

“I had people from Australia, England and Asia messaging me and received some voice messages from people using different languages like Spanish, German and Chinese.��

“I also had some really nice messages from some older folks, and the young ones telling me to ‘get on it’. It even got around to my army mates who I trained with and they’ve absolutely let rip at me.��

“I had a handful of people singing me happy birthday, and one call had a whole office singing me birthday wishes. There are some genuine people out there.”��

Day told the��Herald��he wasn’t sure he’d come out alive after Sparrow got his hands on him.��

Even now, Sparrow is being flooded with messages from across the globe, with many poking fun at his name, which is the same as the lead character’s in the��Pirates Of The Caribbean��movies.��

Mum Michelle Sparrow clarified that the name was a coincidence.��

Jack Sparrow with little sister Isabel. Photo / Michelle Sparrow��

“Jack was born a year before the [first]��Pirates Of The Caribbean��movie came out. I was so mortified we almost changed his name.��

“Sports prizegiving, and even going to a medical centre when Jack was sick and they call out his name – people would start talking and giggling and laughing. That was a bit tough.”��

Michelle is adamant she wasn’t part of the prank but enjoyed the fallout.��

Sparrow also sees the funny side and has plans to take his revenge on his boss.��

“All I know is he’d better watch out. We’re supposed to go fishing next week, so watch this space.”��