40+ Dads Show Up to an 8th Grade Graduation Wearing the Same Exact Shirt

Screenshots of video showing a same shirt prank played on a group of dads at a school promotion

Photo: Screenshot from TikTok

When a prank goes incredibly well, it leaves everyone wanting to send their praise to the mastermind behind it all. But sometimes, you can be surprised by who is really pulling the strings. Jolee Windnagle (@jonichole84) posted a video on TikTok presenting dozens of dads showing up to their kids' 8th grade graduation wearing the exact same purple shirt. The success of this prank had many scratching their heads. Was it the dads' idea? Was it the kids?

The video is part of a trend on TikTok, aptly known as the “same shirt prank.” While many thought the fathers may have coordinated this hilarious fashion faux pas to put a smile on their kids' faces, their bewildered looks reveal they are not in on it. After some theorizing, many have come up with the correct answer—it was the wives/moms who came up with the plan!

Knowing that their partners would wear whatever they suggested for them, the mothers decided to pull the ultimate prank. While most people who have tried this trendy trick have managed to get maybe two, five or 10 guys tops to wear the same shirt, the moms of this 8th grade class got over 40 dads to take the bait and show up in matching outfits.

In the footage, we first see Windgale's husband Wayne walking into the school. As the video progresses, families fill the venue with a sea of purple. Each dad slowly begins to realize something is off. The reactions go from nervous smiles and silent staring to plain old confusion. Eventually, the jig is up and the dads are all smiles, realizing they've been part of an elaborate joke. They can all be seen chatting with one another and, in the end, they all took a picture together posing proudly with their matching shirts.

For many who have come across the video, the same shirt prank is the standard of what a prank should be—lighthearted and fun, something everyone can enjoy (even the ones being pranked). One Redditor put it perfectly: “Confuse, don't abuse.” Others celebrated the sweet simplicity of the stunt, saying, “Getting a bunch of people to wear the same shirt is a wayyyyy better prank than what most people call pranks in videos.”

Hoping to get some answers on how this was carried out, Windnagle—whose daughter was graduating that day—made another video revealing the backstory of the prank. “A week before the graduation I had been seeing a lot of the same prank shirts, so thought that I would attempt it,” she reveals. “I wend ahead and sent out a Facebook message to a lot of the 8th grade moms that I knew, explained the TikTok that I'd seen, and asked if they would want to attempt it with me. They added a lot of the moms that they knew, and so we would get a bigger group.”

With less than a week to go, getting the shirts on time was key. “I added a link to the shirt that you've just seen from Amazon so it was easy and we ended up like between 40 and 50 dads,” the woman continues. “They were all like surprised, shocked, maybe a few mad—I don't know. But it was super fun for the kids, for us, for the dads.” She never thought she would get that many people to participate, so she appreciates that she got many families from her small town to come together. “I think it just made 8th grade promotion a little bit memorable for everybody,” she says. “The kids will remember it.”