Matthew Prince challenged his students. If one of them manages to make a video on TikTok exceeding one million views before him, he would not pass a year-end exam.
This is a test that was not included in the school curriculum. However, American students could win the jackpot by participating. In January, a marketing professor at Chapman University in California challenged his 80 students. If one of them managed to make a TikTok video accumulating more than a million views before him, the end-of-year exams would be canceled.
The young Sylvie Bastardo, 20, wasted no time. She immediately took out her phone to film the instructions displayed on the screen, says the New York Times. The clip ends with a comrade displaying a most surprised face. The video is published the next day on TikTok, the time to find the right music to accompany it.
Within 24 hours, Sylvie Bastardo had won the challenge. Today, the student’s TikTok is close to five million views. After her success, she did it again with a new video – totaling 1.1 million views – where she boasts of having had the famous exam canceled for her entire promotion in the space of a day.
Matthew Prince, the teacher – but also director of marketing communications and public relations at Taco Bell, a fast food chain – wanted his students to capture the possibilities offered by social networks. Although his method has been criticized by a Facebook group of teachers of which he is a member, he assures that the challenge has helped to support his teachings.
“Primarily the idea of democratizing virality and influence on social media, especially TikTok, and the fact that you don’t have to be a celebrity to drive it,” says Matthew Prince. at the New York Times.
Proof of the apprehension of the students about their ability to reach one million views, no other member of the promotion had published a video on TikTok except Sylvie Bastardo. Now, the lesson is likely to be learned.
