If you search “bucket prank” in TikTok’s search bar, you’ll find videos of teenagers in Home Depot and Target, pranking strangers by putting buckets on their heads, before running away. In some of the videos, the pranksters will also place a bucket on their own heads, waiting for their mark to turn around before then looking around in confusion.


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What has been dubbed the ‘bucket prank,’ seems like a harmless enough gotcha gag perfect for creating a viral moment. However, one woman who was the victim of the bucket prank recently spoke with Fox 11 Los Angeles, after she was pranked while in the baby aisle of her local Tustin Target. 


@fox.la ‘IT’S NOT FUNNY’: What started as a normal shopping trip for one mom at Target in Tustin quickly turned into a nightmare after she unknowingly became the victim of an apparent TikTok prank known as the ‘bucket challenge’ that is now being investigated by police as an assault. #bucketchallenge #target #prank #crime #tustin #california #cancersurvivor #prankgonewrong #fyp #foryou #notfunny ♬ original sound - FOX 11 Los Angeles


“All of a sudden everything went dark,” recalled Lana Clay-Monaghan, who described her experience of having a bucket placed over her head while shopping in Target. Clay-Monaghan said police described the incident as the “latest TikTok challenge called the ‘bucket over head prank,’” which originally went viral on the platform in 2021.


Once Clay-Monaghan removed the bucket from her head, said she was mortified to see a group of teenagers laughing at her with their phones out. She recalled seeing the flashes of their cameras before then passing out and being taken to a local hospital.


“The worst part of this for me,” Clay-Monaghan said, “was asking them for help and they were laughing at me.” Despite having a bucket placed on her head by a wild group of teenage pranksters, there is no sign that the bucket challenge is on the rise or a danger to vulnerable women shopping alone in Target. 


@wave.tv he didn’t have to do him like that (@marshallmccraw) #bucket #prank #lowes #hardwarestore ♬ original sound - WAVE.tv


@woodyandkleiny This bucket prank NEVER gets old... @bangenergy @bangenergy.ceo #BangEnergy #Sponsor ♬ original sound - woodyandkleiny