NJ Dad Gets 20K Birthday Calls As Sons Post Number On Billboard

Michael and Chris Ferry used to think it was funny getting the Applebee's waiters and waitresses to do the birthday clap for his dad – even when it wasn't his birthday – when they grew up in New Jersey.

Now that they own their own businesses, they've got enough money to – as Spinal Tap once said – turn that prank up to 11.

Instead of getting claps at restaurants, their dad, Chris Ferry, has gotten calls – more than 20,000 of them – for his 62nd birthday on Saturday because the two sons paid to plaster his number on a billboard on the Black Horse Pike in the Atlantic City area.

“WISH MY DAD HAPPY BIRTHDAY,” the sign says, adding his cellphone number that, because of this, their dad doesn't use anymore. “Love, Your Sons.”

The sign, which will be there until April 6, cost $2,000 and the brothers split the expense. It certainly was a far cry from the Applebee's birthday wishes, which the two sons did not just for fun, but also to get free desserts.

"We really got him," said Michael Ferry, 28, who, along with his brother Chis, 30, now lives in the Boca Raton, Fla. area after growing up in Ventnor.

Michael Ferry said his father is a pretty staight, down-the-middle conservative guy, so the two sons are having a little fun doing something to rankle him – even if he is taking it well.

"He's having fun with it because there is no other route he can take," Michael said.

Indeed, the father hasn't really seemed annoyed by it – yet – but the sons acknowledge that he has reason to feel that way.

They even took a video of their dad's phone just as many of the calls and texts wishing him a happy birthday were rolling through:

The father, Chris Ferry, an insurance agent in Linwood, has had to get a new phone since he's beeen getting calls from all over the United States and as far away as Germany, Kenya and Australia.

Michael noted that he and his brother were coaxing their father to get a new phone, anyway. Their dad sold his house in Florida but still had a phone number with a Florida area code.

The sons wanted him to get a 609 South Jersey number since he lives there full-time, just because it made sense – and because it was less confusing to people who were getting calls from him.

"It worked," Michael Ferry said.

The sons originally thought only local people would see the billboard and call him. Then word got out, and even "Kelly and Ryan" televsion show got hold of it and called the father, Chris Ferry.

After that appearance, more calls and texts came in – by the tens of thousands.

"I'm just getting texts the whole time we're speaking," Chris Ferry told the two hosts, Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest.

Chris Ferry said some people who called him did it to honor their own parents.

"It's kinda cool," he said.

Chris, who spoke to Patch on his new cellphone, just as the dings and rings could be heard on his old one, said that his sons are "pains in the ass" but he gets it. He said he and his family are looking at turning this venture in a charitable cause.

Chris Ferry said he does look forward to seeing his sons and "giving the bill for my new phone."

Michael Ferry said they also wanted to pay their father back for the hard times they gave him.

They remember how he took them to play hockey at places that were far away, and how they would go to Applebee's afterward. And then, of course, they remembered how they'd play the birthday prank on him.

But long after that, both Michael and his brother struggled with drug addiction. They're both sober now – Michael now runs a food preparation company called "Perfectly Prepared" and his brother, Chris, runs a drug abuse clinic in Florida.

"I was spoiled-rotten brat. If I wasn't at school, if I wasn't at hockey, I was at the beach, sufing," Michael said. "We caused them (his mother and father, both of whom divorced) a lot of heartbreak a lot of stress."

So, yes, it's a prank. But the billboard was also a gesture of love.

"It snowballed out of control. I love it," Michael Ferry said. "I just think it's great."