A group of students from Chapman University in Orange County, California, recently received an unusual assignment from their marketing professor – one that immediately inspired millions of strangers on the internet to take the plunge. stock.
According to Sylvie Bastardo, 20 years old (@sylvieclaire), the mission was called the “TikTok Influencer Challenge” and the premise his teacher, public relations director Matthew Prince, laid out was quite simple: all the class had to do was create a viral ICT Tac which reached 1 million views, and it would cancel their finale.
Bastardo posted a TikTok about the mission in early February, along with a caption asking viewers to like her video so she and her classmates could win the challenge.
Bastardo wrote “1 million likes” in her TikTok caption, but later clarified that she had heard wrong and actually needed 1 million views.
In just a few days, TikTok managed to deliver. In fact, a follow-up video shows Bastardo celebrating his class’ victory.
“THE FINAL IS CANCELED! she wrote on February 4. “Thank you for all the support.”
The video kept going viral and has over 4.9 million views and 859,000 likes. It’s also sparked a sense of camaraderie on TikTok that’s pretty amazing.
“WE DID IT YES,” wrote one commenter.
“Happy to help the cause,” someone else said.
“Less than a week is crazy,” added another person, who couldn’t believe how quickly it happened.
Bastardo was just as amazed as they were, writing, “I still can’t believe this actually happened,” in one of his follow up videos.
In an interview with THE New York Times, Prince credited Bastardo with cleverly using a popular TikTok sound to help boost the video’s reach. Prince also added that no one else in the class said they tried to make a viral video to get out of the final.
“I was just trying to think of new ways to help support some of the teaching that I’m trying to impart over the semester,” Prince said. “Primarily the idea of democratizing virality and influence in social media, especially on TikTok, and you really don’t have to be a celebrity to drive it.”
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