If you have ever been to a party in a freshman dorm, or spent any time around a white male ages 12-16, you have probably heard the phrase “full send.” The delightfully simple portmanteau is a slogan created by YouTube troublemakers and professional drinkers the Nelk Boys. The Nelk Boys are a Canadian entertainment group founded in 2010 that make short comedy and prank videos. While many different people have cycled in and out of the Nelk Boys group, founders Kyle Forgeard and Jesse Sebastiani are generally seen as the group’s frontmen and leaders. Nelk first rose to fame in 2015 after uploading a video titled “Coke Prank on Cops” in which they told L.A.P.D. officers had ‘coke’ in their cars, only to reveal it was soda and not narcotics. This hybrid of pranks and social disturbances centering around drugs and alcohol is exactly what defines Nelk. Their brand is that of rowdy college fraternity boys attempting to figure out just how much they can get away with; six years and nearly 7 million subscribers later the answer is clear: anything. 

The phrase “full send” is used as somewhat of a battle cry for Nelk and their fans. It essentially means ‘go all the way’ or ‘don’t hold back’ when engaging in Nelk-esque behavior like binge drinking, jumping through tables, or creating a public disturbance. It is oftentimes screamed in triumph before making terrible decisions. The Nelk Boys have made a handsome profit from their marketing of this phrase as well. According to online entertainment chronicle dextero.com, the Nelk Boys have brought in $70 million from merchandise sales alone. T-shirts, hats, bottle openers, lanyards, flags, and even golf balls donning the phrase “full send” can be found in every high school and college in America. 

Within minutes of a Nelk Boys merchandise release, their website reads ‘sold out.’ Their rabid fans will buy up anything and everything the group puts out. The eager fanbase, perhaps unsurprisingly, is a racial monolith of white males. This is no coincidence. What Nelk does is push the boundaries of white male privilege to its absolute extreme. Their videos appeal to the white male demographic so strongly because the actions within them are available only to a group with a singularly exclusive privilege. Nelk’s public pranks on police officers, for example, could not be played by a group of black men without ending in violence. These comedians are practically dancing atop the pyramid of oppression that exists in this country.