TikTok's "Just Give Me My Money" Trend Will Either Make You Laugh or Full-Body Cringe
"The way I would have started crying," one commenter said.
Updated July 31 2024, 11:52 a.m. ET
Over the years, TikTok has been known to create some wacky, dangerous, and downright deadly trends, from the One Chip Challenge to the Blackout Challenge. The latest trend sweeping the platform, however, is pretty harmless — but it might just give you some wicked second-hand embarrassment.
Known as the "Just Give Me My Money" trend, this new fad has people pranking their friends, family, and even coworkers in a hilarious way.
But even if you've seen the videos, you may not understand exactly what's going on. Here's how the Just Give Me My Money trend works, in case you want to try it out on your friends.
Here's how the "Just Give Me My Money" trend works.
In order to pull off the Just Give Me My Money trend and prank your friend, you need to enlist at least one extra person to help you. Then, you stand in a circle comprised of yourself, your co-conspirator(s), and the single victim of your prank.
The idea is to tell your victim that they're going to be part of a TikTok trend, and that they'll need to copy your behavior: saying "just give me my money" in a funny voice, and then loudly cheering for each person in the circle after they take their turn.
It starts with you, then moves onto each additional person in the circle. After each person takes their turn to wackily say "just give me my money," complete with fun hand gestures, voices, and more, everyone else cheers for them — until you get to your victim, who goes last.
Once they take their turn, emboldened by everyone else's silly behavior, they'll be expecting applause and an enthusiastic reception. But here's where the prank comes in: everyone stays completely silent.
Your victim will have to sit in the silence and accept their actions, instantly realizing that they've been the butt of the joke all along. In some instances, it's hilarious. But in others, it's full-body cringe-inducing, especially if you're prone to second-hand embarrassment.
Comments on each video range from laughter to despair at the victim's reactions, which are sometimes heartbreaking.
"Literally have replayed this over and over! He’s so shook at the betrayal," one person wrote on a video of a family pranking their dad.
On another, where the victim looks disappointed and confused, one user said, "Why am I sad that y'all didn't clap?" to which the original poster replied, "No literally, I felt so bad when I stopped the video [that] I started cheering."
So, if you're interested in pranking your parents, boss, or best friend, try out the Just Give Me My Money trend — but be prepared for a wide range of reactions. Oh, and make sure to get it all on camera.
