Fraud: "wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain."<p>I'm not a lawyer, but I don't think you can pretend to commit a crime without consequence. If he does generate publicity, it could be considered financial or personal gain. And the deception does seem wrongful, even if it was for a day. Also, there are laws against this kind of thing to prevent people from attempting a crime and then saying "I was just kidding. I wanted to make it look real so you'd know what it felt like if I actually did it."<p>In the US, suing for emotional distress in this scenario would be a slam dunk I'd imagine.<p>More than that though, who wants to work or do business with someone who thinks this is a good idea.