So there’s this trend of absolute nitwits dressing up in creepy clown costumes and trying to scare innocent members of the public, because… we don’t know, they have nothing better to do and no one ever taught them how to use their time productively.

Regardless, this ‘trend’, if you want to call it that, has apparently metastasised to Australia and New Zealand, with Victoria and NSW Police issuing a statement insisting any f***wit caught scaring people in a clown costume will be treated like the moron they are.

To make the whole situation that much more facepalm-inducing, excellent Melbourne punk band Clowns have been forced to deal with messages on social media lambasting them over the latest craze that’s taking the world’s youth by storm.

“REMINDER: We are a band from Australia and in no way are we related to the recent clown sightings in the US so plz stop messaging us filth,” Clowns were sadly forced to tweet late last week. They’ve even shared a few of the charming interactions they’ve had.

Apparently some are convinced they are the organisers of this clown epidemic or something, but as they explained to one Facebooker: “We’ve been called Clowns for 7 years, we have toured the states twice in 2015. A very quick scroll on the page which you found us on would confirm this.”

So yeah, not all publicity is good publicity. Check out some of the interactions Clowns have been forced to sit through, including their very classy and calm responses (seriously, give ’em props), below.

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