TikTok shows woman pranking colourblind father using giant luggage stickers

The dad allegedly felt 'stressed' about not being able to identify his bag. Photo / 123RF

An American woman pulled an elaborate prank on her father at the airport, with a video of the mischief going viral on TikTok.

Spotting your suitcase on the luggage carousel can be difficult, especially if you have a nondescript dark-coloured bag like most other travellers.

It becomes even harder if you’re colourblind, like Missouri father Mike Bone. So, his daughter Kelsey Thorne devised a plan that would help his dad but also be comical.

The prank began before the family left home to catch a flight to the Dominican Republic. At this time, Thorne, with the help of her brother and mother, stuck large stickers on her father’s suitcase; one was a big picture of his head and another read “Help my dad find his luggage!”.

Thorne’s mother distracted her dad as she placed the stickers and packed the bag into the car. When they arrived at the airport, the family quickly checked in the luggage while he parked the car.

It was only once they arrived at Punta Cana International Airport, when he realised the prank that had been played on him.

“My dad was stressed before his vacation that he wouldn’t be able to find his suitcase at baggage claim bc he’s colourblind & they all look the same to him,” Thorne wrote in text across a clip of her dad, waiting at the carousel.

@kelseyyanne

I snuck into his house while he was gone to steal his already packed suitcase to do this, he had no idea until he was leaving for the airport that I did it—he got a good laugh and said he found his luggage in record time! Even at 30, it’s still fun to mess with your parents! #daddaughtergoals #travel #Family #prank #babyofthefamily #stl #airport #travelhacks #grayhair #vacation #funny #beach #puntacana #classicwinstonmessaround #helpfindmydad #geriatric

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Waiting for his bag, the video shows onlookers standing around the carousel beginning to smile and wave at the dad.

“At first, he was confused as people kept laughing, looking at him and yelling, ‘Here’s your suitcase,’” Thorne told Fox Digital.

Eventually, the bag pulled around the corner and he realised why everyone else knew the bag was his.

Thorne said no one could stop laughing, and posted the video to TikTok, along with the caption: “Even at 30, it’s still fun to mess with your parents!”

The clip then showed her father wheeling the suitcase through the airport.

Colourblindness (or colour vision deficiency) has several “forms” but the most common makes it difficult to see the difference between green and red. Other types effect someones ability to tell blue and yellow apart and total colour vision deficiency means they do not see colour at all.

Thorne did not specify what type of colourblindness her father had.

In the comments section, many people praised Thorne for her prank and suggested it would have lifted many travellers’ spirits.

“baggage claim is a rough place and I think this helped ease the tension,” one person wrote. Thorne said it was the “happiest baggage claim area” she had ever seen.

Someone took inspiration from the video and commented that they wanted to put their own face on their bag, to make it easier to spot.

For anyone concerned that the father may have felt embarrassed, Thorne assured viewers her father had a great sense of humour.

Thorne agreed that many other tactics could have helped her dad identify his bag such as a large ribbon, or sticker with his name but she said this was “so much more fun”.