TikTok is one of the largest social media platforms today with over 150 million users in the United States alone. So, what happens when one user tries to return a childhood trophy collection he found for sale in his local Goodwill?
On Oct. 5, Zack Wickham (@thezackwickham) posted a TikTok of him documenting a collection of Goodwill trophies labeled with the achievements of one particularly impressive young girl: Phoebe Kong. His video has over 35 million views at the time of publication.
What kind of trophies were in the Goodwill?
Zack starts the video with the camera facing himself. “This is a message for Phoebe Kong,” he says. “I think your mom cleaned out your room and took all your trophies to the Goodwill.”
He turns the camera to show off a plaque that reads, “Marlborough School” at the top and, “2004 Varsity–Girls Tennis; Most Improved Player–Phoebe Kong,” at the bottom.
Zack turns to his friend holding a sports trophy: “Oh and you did softball. God, you were super talented.”
As the video continues Zack reads off more of Phoebe’s notable accomplishments, like an Excellence in Piano trophy from 2012 and a Varsity Girls Tennis plaque from 2013 to 2014.
The TikTok ends with a message for the famous Phoebe herself: “Girl, you’re talented but I think your mom just gave up all your trophies to the Goodwill so if you want them back they’re at the Goodwill on Beverly Boulevard in L.A.”
Commenters search for Goodwill trophy owner
People were immediately invested in the hunt and took to the comments section to contribute their thoughts.
“I hope Phoebe Kong knows how proud we all are of her hard work,” one user said.
“Imagine buying all of these and just decorating your home with them,” another wrote.
Some commenters considered possible explanations behind the trophies for sale.
“I really hope Phoebe is still with us,” one suggested.
Another user suggested a less morbid reason: “No, guarantee Dad was told to take that box to the attic and he god mixed up. Mom is innocent!!”
@thezackwickham Pheobe Kong your mom cleaned out your room 😂 #fyp ♬ original sound – Zack Wickham
The trophy saga doesn’t end there
Zack complied to the comments and posted a follow-up video to his TikTok page the next day. He returned to the Goodwill location with hopes to buy the collection and return them to its rightful owner.
However, when he arrived, only one trophy remained on the shelf.
The TikTok shows Zack talking to a store employee. Zack asks, “So, someone bought them?” to which the employee responds, “Yeah. You know, I nearly threw them away and then I thought ‘someone is probably gonna want these.’”
Zack records himself buying the last trophy on the shelf. A text overlay on the video reads, “Cashier tells me that someone had just come in 30 minutes before me and bought allll the trophies.”
The video ends with Zack speaking directly to the audience: “Well, one of you better be making a video so I know who you are so we can get this back to Phoebe, so you better have known Phoebe or how to get in touch with her.”
Who bought the trophies?
Zack posted a few more TikToks in his hunt for Phoebe Kong, one showing her speaking in front of California legislature to pass the “Phoebe Bill.”
But, in part five of his series, Zack discovers who bought the trophies after all.
Parts four and five of his videos are Zack and friends drinking out of red solo cups in an apartment. Part four shows him toasting to Phoebe Kong and all of her accomplishments.
In part five, he is sitting on a couch when one of his friends shows him a video of someone buying up all of Phoebe’s trophies. Who was the culprit? Phoebe’s mom.
Phoebe Kong finally reveals herself
Phoebe Kong herself posted three TikToks revealing who she was and what her trophies were doing in Goodwill. Her first video, which now has over 7 million views, confirms that she is the one true Phoebe.
She begins the video by saying, “Phoebe Kong here, owner of the Goodwill trophies. I am alive. I knew they were being donated; I cleaned out my childhood bedroom. I’m just surprised that Goodwill took them.”
The rest of the video shows childhood photos of Phoebe, one photo showing her with the trophy that Zack bought after finding the rest already sold. The last photo shown is Phoebe at an art show. “I don’t really get trophies for any of those things now, but onto new things,” she says.
The second video she posted, the one that Zack watched in his fifth part, has reached almost 14 million views. The TikTok shows Phoebe’s mom collecting the trophies from the store shelf and buying them. The text overlay reads, “My mom buying my trophies back bc [because] they went viral from Goodwill.”
@feeeeeeeeeeeeeebe caught red handed @Zack Wickham you’ll have to fight her for them now #phoebekong #goodwilltrophies ♬ Roman Holiday Sped Up – Jadyn
The search for Phoebe Kong comes to an end
Commenters on Phoebe’s video celebrated the trophy saga coming to a satisfactory end.
“Saw Zack’s post this am and held onto belief the algorithm would give me an update… and here we are 12 hrs later,” one wrote.
“Only on TT can you see a guy go to goodwill find random trophies, then in the same timeline see the mom buy her daughters trophies back. At this point Netflix is competing with TikTok,” a second user said.
“She donated them and then paid for them back?” a third pointed out.
The Daily Dot has reached out to both Zack Wickham and Phoebe Kong via TikTok DMs and comments to hear more about their experiences.
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