Women are trending on TikTok for pranking their family and friends by randomly announcing that they’ve landed high paying gigs working offshore oil rigs, and filming their loved ones’ hilarious reactions.
The prank took over the platform in the past week.
It usually begins with the woman asking her mark if they know of the energy giant ExxonMobil, then explaining she applied for and received an apprenticeship as underwater welder — for which she’ll be paid a six figure salary.
“Have you heard of ExxonMobil? Yeah, like the oil company,” TikToker Olivia Prewitt asks her father over the phone in a Feb. 22 video titled, “I saw someone prank their dad & say they were hired at an offshore oil rig so I had to do it.”
“So they had an apprenticeship opportunity that paid $185,000 for six weeks, so I applied to it…and they called me and said that I could come in July,” Prewitt continues while stifling giggles behind her hand in the nearly one-and-a-half-minute long clip, which has been seen 2.6 million times.
“That’s not anything you’d want to do,” her dad responds after a shocked, six-second pause. “Did they tell you what you’d be doing?”
“They train you for the, uh, welding,” says Prewitt, who currently works as a realtor in Florida, according to her TikTok bio.
“Aw sh-t, you ain’t gonna do no welding! You don’t need to go doing no welding. I just think it’s crazy that you think you’re gonna go out there, I don’t know, and do some welding. That’s what’s crazy,” her father concludes while Prewitt appears to double over in laughter.
Like Prewitt’s dad, most of the subjects express disbelief that their pranksters — mostly young women — could fulfill the job requirements of an underwater welder.
“You’re out in the middle of the ocean, the wind is blowing, it’s probably one of the most dangerous jobs in the world,” Hannah Pawelski’s dad deadpans in response to the prank, pointing out his daughter “may die” in the role.
He then calls the idea the company would hire Pawelski “insanity,” triggering her to break down in laughter and admit the deception before the Feb. 23 TikTok footage ends.
“Gianna, you’re going to be in scuba gear. It’s not like ‘Oh, I’m gonna hold my breath and go underwater with the welder. No, you’re in full scuba gear. You have a tank on; you have to learn how to do that,” another TikToker’s brother says in a Feb. 20 post.
“What do you think you’re going to pop up for a minute and go back down there and weld, jackass? What, do you think you’re going to have a f–king snorkeling thing on…and go f–king weld?” he continues, before joining Gianna in fits of laughter.