Pulling pranks on loved ones can be part and parcel of being a tight-knit family.
But a local influencer’s apparent prank that left her daughter crying has some netizens disapproving.
Vannytelly was looking to trick her seven-year-old daughter, Hope, by presenting her with a 50-cent-sized cake during her birthday celebration.
The mother of three had the actual birthday cake hiding in the background.
In a TikTok video posted on Wednesday (May 22), Hope looked slightly confused after seeing the tiny birthday cake.
Her sister then said: “Because you need to lose weight.”
Just as Vannytelly asked if Hope liked the petite nature of the cake, the young girl looked to be in distress and requested not to be filmed.
She was on the verge of tears, and it wasn’t long before Hope was sobbing in her father’s arms, with the in-video caption reading: “Oh no, we made her cry.”
Netizens in the comments section were generally displeased at Vannytelly’s actions, with many criticising her for pulling such a prank on Hope.
One TikTok user commented: “This is too much. Children have feelings too. She will remember this hurt for the rest of her life.”
Another netizen rationalised that the tiny cake prank was fine but calling out her supposed need to lose weight was “so distasteful” and the young girl might be “haunted” by the entire ordeal.
In the comments section, Vannytelly did note that the family reassured Hope it was only a prank.
She added: “I grew up with an eating disorder and depression and that’s the last thing I want for her.”
In a separate TikTok clip shared on May 23, Hope looked to be in better spirits as her mum presented her with her actual birthday cake, a larger rabbit-shaped one.
On it was a message: “We were just joking because you are perfect.”
On her Instagram page, the local influencer provided context to their family dynamics, saying that teasing each other would happen at times.
However, Vannytelly did not expect that her prank would backfire to this degree and seems to have realised her misstep.
“I should have known that Hope was more conscious about her appearance and would be upset by it (the prank),” she admitted.
In response to a commenter on Instagram who was concerned about the effect this could have on Hope, Vannytelly clarified: ‘Learning as a parent [and] I learnt from this mistake.”
AsiaOne has reached out to Vannytelly.
Cute or cruel?
Influencers pranking their young ones and posting about it on social media isn’t all that new.
Naomi Neo’s parenting methods came under the spotlight in September 2022, after pranking her four-year-old son Kyzo before their family vacation.
She told him how the family would be setting off to Australia while he’d have to stay put in Singapore and take care of the home alone. Kyzo was visibly upset by this.
In the comments section, netizens were generally split into two camps. The first found Naomi’s video extremely cute and sweet, while the second saw this as a child going through a traumatic experience.
This article was first published in AsiaOne and republished with permission on theAsianparent.
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