- A professor promised to cancel a final exam if his class made a TikTok video that got a million views.
- His student Sylvie Bastardo recorded the professor's slides and begged for likes on Tiktok.
A marketing professor promised his students that if anyone made a TikTok video with a million views, he would cancel the final exams.
Matthew Prince, a public relations executive at Taco Bell who teaches at Chapman University in Southern California, put forth this challenge to his influencer marketing class in January, per The New York Times.
However, if he managed a million views on a Tiktok of himself filmed in class or about the class, the whole class would have to do an extra assignment, he told Insider.
Sylvie Bastardo, a 20-year-old sophomore in Prince's class, took up the challenge.
@sylvieclaire My professor said if our class got a tiktok to 1 million likes he would cancel the final!! Please like!!! #communicationsclass #influencermarketing #finalexam #college ♬ WHY ARE PPL USING THIS SOUND - John Phillips
Rather than post original content, she whipped out her phone, and took a video of Prince standing in front of the presentation slides showing the details of the challenge.
Prince's presentation slides read: "Tiktok Influencer Challenge," "First to reach viral status on TikTok wins (Me vs. the entire class)."
Underneath, in bullet points, he wrote: "If you win, the Final is canceled."
Bastardo's caption on the TikTok posted on February 2, said: "My professor said if our class got a tiktok to 1 million likes he would cancel the final!! Please like!!!"
She later told The Times in an interview that she had misheard her professor, who only wanted a million views, not a million likes.
The open call for likes quickly clocked loads of views for Bastardo as the Tiktok community rallied to help her get the final exams canceled.
At press time, Bastardo's TikTok had more than 4.9 million views and nearly 860,000 likes.
Insider saw many comments on Bastardo's TikTok from people who said they were "rooting for" her and her classmates.
Just a day after she posted the video, it had reached a million views. Prince's co-workers saw the TikTok video before he did, and he was shocked when they told him about it.
"I was telling them about the challenge I gave to my class and they mentioned seeing something similar on their FYP that day – then we all realized it WAS my class," he told Insider.
Prince conceded defeat in a TikTok posted on his own account on February 3. He acknowledged that his students had met the goal he set in "less than 40 hours."
"Guess i dont have to grade a final exam. AND I made my point. Win win if you really think about it," Prince wrote in his caption on his TikTok.
@itsmattprince #stitch with @sylvieclaire guess i dont have to grade a final now. AND I made my point. Win win if you really think about it #influencermarketing #professorsoftiktok #chapmanuniversity #professortok #collegelife #college ♬ original sound - Matt Prince
Prince told Insider that he preferred this method of learning over setting examinations.
"I believe finals are just a reflection of your ability to regurgitate information. Students aren't going to remember any of the questions from a test after they graduate – but I'm hopeful a fun learning opportunity like this could be a memory they take into their careers," he said.
Bastardo later posted another Tiktok celebrating her success, with the text: "Me walking into class on Tuesday knowing my TikTok got the final canceled." Prince responded to Bastardo's follow-up video with one word: "MVP."
Prince said he plans to incorporate more such challenges in future classes, and he's thinking of making them more difficult.
Bastardo did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.