Nearly 5,000 people have signed up to throw eggs at Jeff Bezos’ superyacht when it sails through the Dutch city of Rotterdam this summer. The planned protest comes in the wake of news that the billionaire Amazon founder’s $500 million vessel would require the dismantling of a historic bridge in order to reach open waters.
“It started more as a joke among friends after we heard the news about the possible dismantling of the bridge,” protest organizer Pablo Strörmann told the NL Times earlier this month.
But the joke, and the yolk, is “getting way out of hand,” he said.
A Facebook page for the event shows 4,800 people planning to attend and 16,200 more who are interested.
“Calling all Rotterdammers, take a box of rotten eggs with you and let’s throw them en masse at Jeff’s superyacht when it sails through the Hef in Rotterdam,” the event description reads.
The Hef is the nickname for the 95-year-old Koningshaven Bridge, a local landmark which stands in the way of the 417-foot-long triple-masted sailing yacht. The bridge has a clearance of 131 feet and city officials have given permission for the middle section to be removed and then replaced.
“Normally it’s the other way around: If your ship doesn’t fit under a bridge, you make it smaller,” Strörmann told the NL Times. “But when you happen to be the richest person on Earth you just ask a municipality to dismantle a monument. That’s ridiculous.”
Bezos’ yacht, known as Project Y721 and built by Alblasserdam, Netherlands-based Oceanco, will take on the title of world’s largest sailing yacht, among other records, upon delivery.