Oil Rig Prank

Submission 735

Part of a series on Pranking. [View Related Entries]

About

The Oil Rig Prank or Do You Know Exxon Mobil? is a prank popularized on TikTok in February 2024 in which the prankster calls a victim, often their parent or partner and tells them they got a job at an offshore oil rig for Exxon Mobil. The prank went viral that month and gained media attention.

Origin

The earliest known example of the prank was posted by TikToker^[1] @kayllkay on February 17th, 2024. In the video, the TikToker calls her dad and tells him she's going to work at an offshore oil rig for Exxon Mobil, recording his reaction. The video gained over 1.9 million views in a month (shown below). The video is purportedly not the first, as the TikToker writes in the description, "I saw someone else do this but i cant find the video to tag."

@kayllkay
“And you dont even know how to weld” LMAOOOO I saw someone else do this but i cant find the video to tag😭

♬ original sound – Kay

Spread

The prank spread that month. On February 21st, 2024, TikToker^[2] @oliviaprewitt15 posted a version of the prank that gained over 4.5 million views in two weeks (shown below, left). On February 24th, TikToker^[3] @jahkirax posted a version of the prank that gained over 1.2 million views in two weeks (shown below, right). That day, the New York Post^[4] published an article on the prank.

@oliviaprewitt15
Now Demarco shoulda knew I was lying 🤣🤣🤣

♬ original sound – oliviamonet

@jahkirax So basically my dad has been a welder for over 25 years and when i saw this trend that people were doing to prank their dads, i knew i had to do it 🤣 i told him i was gonna be an underwater welder for exxon mobile on one of their offshore oil rigs 💀 #exxonmobil #offshoreoilrig #prank #underwaterwelder #oilrig #welding #welder #prankondad #viral #fyp ♬ original sound – Jahkira Michelle

On February 27th, YouTuber^[5] Brett Cooper posted a video reacting to and discussing the prank, garnering over 359,000 views in a week (shown below).

On February 28th, TikToker^[6] @samantha_roseeeee posted a version of the prank where she tells her therapist that she's working at an oil rig, garnering over 3.2 million views in a week (shown below). On March 2nd, Audacy^[7] published an article about Livvy Dunne doing the prank.

@samantha_roseeeee Telling my therapist that i got an underwater welding job on an oil rig and i need him to clear me psychologically hahahahahaaha #exxonmobil #oilrig #underwaterwelder #prank ♬ original sound – SAMMY 🧸🍒