“Rest of the Staff Wore Black and Gray”: Teachers Prank Principal Into Wearing Wild Outfit, Spark Bullying Debate

It looks like a prank pulled on a school principal is sparking a viral TikTok debate, with several folks stating they thought the prank was a form of bullying.

However, the principal in question, Amy Andreassen (@average_principal), stated that she thought the trick was all in good fun.

As a result of the prank, Amy ended up going to school wearing a kaleidoscope of colors, complete with a pair of headband cat ears.

She shared the story in a now-viral video that's ended up accruing 3.3 million views on the popular social media platform.

"I was so excited when my staff planned a 'wear your brightest colors' day. I even wore my cat ears headband," the principal wrote in a text overlay on her video, in which she shows off her outfit to the camera.

"Several teachers sent me reminder texts the night before," Amy wrote in another overlay, showing off a screenshot of the messages she was referring to: "Don't forget bright colors tomorrow!! Amy, don't show us all up! Emphasis on 'colors.' Pink is only one 'color.'"

The video then transitions to Amy showing how the other teachers in question decided to show up to work ... i.e., when Amy discovered that she'd been pranked really, really good.

She snapped a photo of some of the staff members in question, and not a single one of them was rocking a ridiculous or overly colorful outfit. "Turns out it was only for me! The rest of the staff wore black and gray. Teachers are mean," Amy explained in another text overlay.

The video featured a montage of numerous pics snapped of different teachers and students in the hallways of the school — no one else was dressed up in "colors" like Amy was.

Judging from a caption that Amy wrote for her post, it doesn't seem like she was all that upset over being pranked in such a fashion. In fact, it would seem that she's used to this kind of tomfoolery, as she wrote: "Pranked again. This one was pretty creative!"

She also pre-empted any potential negative TikTok comments from folks who might think that there was possibly some ill-will that came as a result of the prank setup: "Now — before someone types 'insubordinate' — it was all in good fun," she wrote. "We have two days of school left and the principal is always fair game for shenanigans."

A number of TikTokers who responded to her video stated that she was probably a beloved principal if faculty and staff felt comfortable enough to joke around with her in such a manner. Like this one person who wrote in the comments section: "You must be loved by them! They know they can mess with you without fear, some principals are scary."

Others thought that she looked really cool going into school the way she did: "U LOOKED FABULOUS OMG why are they so boring."

Someone else replied that if her staff thought they were getting one over on her and trying to make her look silly, then whatever plot they had ultimately ended up having the opposite effect.

"It kind of backfired on them because now you look like the main character," they remarked.

There was another user on the app who told Amy they approved of her appearance, writing that they thought she looked "fabulous."

However, there was another person who said the fact that she's the principal changes the dynamic of the prank: "Almost felt bad until I realized you’re the principal. Hope it really was all in good fun!"

"You ate them up, you’re outfit was the best anyways," another user on the app replied.

And there was another TikToker who flat-out didn't seem to think the prank was cool at all: "They are too grown to be acting like that. You SLAYED."

Another user on the app stated that there was only one demographic Amy should worry about when it comes to outfit reviews — and those are the students of the school who probably thought she was super-duper cool for wearing what she was wearing: "But to the kids you were the coolest dressed that day and that’s really the only opinion that matters."

Again, even though Amy said that she didn't mind the gag and there wasn't anything inimical behind it, there were other folks who thought the prank was on the mean side: "Teachers should never be bullies. A lot of trauma and pain starts in the classroom … a life of hating education as well. You’re a shining star, and you look lovely."

What do you think? Was it whack for teachers to trick their principal into rocking a more "colorful" outfit in school? Or do you think, like some folks in the comments section of the video stated, that it's just a testament to how good of a relationship Amy has with the school's staff members?