When a son asked for posters for his college dorm room, his parents delivered—just not in the way he expected.
TikToker Jill Wagner (@jillwagner) had the internet in stitches after posting a video of her and her husband pulling a prank on their son, Hakin, a freshman at Maryville University in Missouri.
“My son asked for posters for his college dorm room, so I had some made of me and his dad!” the clip’s voiceover says.
@jillwagner81 @Hakin Wagner you want to pick out your own next time?😂 #maryvilleuniversity #stlouis #college #freshman ♬ Crazy – Gnarls Barkley
The first poster on the wall shows the dad smiling and pointing down at an empty laundry basket, presumably as a reminder for the son to put his dirty clothes in the hamper.
“Bet next time he’s more specific,” the voiceover continues as it shows the dad and grandma setting up a life-size cardboard cut-out of the mother by the bed. “He hasn’t seen it yet!”
The video was posted on Saturday, and by Monday afternoon, it had amassed over 445,900 views. The Daily Dot contacted Jill via email.
In the comments, people were amused by the clever prank. “I can’t breathe,” one person commented. “Iconic,” another simply added.
“This is amazing. Love that you did that!!” a third shared.
Another got a kick out of the grandmother’s role in the gag. “Love how grandma was helping,” a woman commented.
Since so many viewers wanted to see the son’s reaction, Jill uploaded a second video that had been viewed more than 398,600 times by Monday afternoon.
@jillwagner81 @Hakin Wagner Dad and i are always with you😂 #maryville #moveinday #college ♬ original sound – Jill
The TikTok shows Jill talking to her son outside of his dorm room. “Do you remember you said, ‘All I want is posters,’” she asks him.
“Yeah, but not if they’re looking, like, dumb,” he replies with a huge grin.
“Dumb? I think they’re awesome,” Jill exclaims. “I can’t wait for you to see the new posters.”
Hakin then walks into his dorm room, only to be greeted with the life-size cardboard cut-out of his mom leaning against his bed. Just what every college freshman wants to see.
“Honey, I know you’re going to miss me so much,” Jill says, barely able to control her laughter.
“That is so embarrassing,” Hakin laughs as he tries to hide the cut-out of his mom. “Take that out of there right now,” he says when he sees the poster of his dad with the laundry basket.
People were equally tickled by Hakin’s reaction to the prank. “Bahahaha you guys take parenthood to the next level and I love it!” a woman wrote.
“These are going to be great memories for him,” another added.
Other parents said that they want to try it on their own kids. “Saving this for when I send my son to school,” a mom commented.
“It’s ten years away, but I cannot wait to do this,” another wrote.
