(NECN/CNN: Jana Shortal) - Staff at one southeast Minnesota high school thought their prank was all in good fun.
They blindfolded some students and let them be kissed.
The kids thought classmates were puckering up with them but, instead, it was the students' parents.
Video of the prank quickly ended up online and went viral.
But, as Jana Shortal tells us, not everyone is laughing.
To be fair, this was supposed to be a joke.
But when it went viral on YouTube, some people didn't find it the least bit funny.
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"As principal, I am responsible for everything that happens in the school so, ultimately, I am the person that needs to answer for this," said John Wollersheim.
Last Thursday, there was a pep assembly at Rosemount High School.
Staff at the school planned a prank for the winter sports team captains: each of them was blindfolded and kissed.
The idea being the student think the kisser was another student and then guess who it was.
But the joke was the mystery kisser was that student's mom or dad.
It was a gag that ultimately went awry.
"I know there are people who are upset about what they've seen and as principal I am responsible for what happens here, and for all the people who are offended, they are genuinely offended and I owe them an apology," said Wollersheim.
Why people were so put off possibly has a bit to do with context. What some are upset about is what they saw in this 59-second YouTube clip, which, according to principal Wollershiem, isn't 100 percent indicative of what happened at the assembly.
"What you see on the internet, sometimes you just see portions of what really happened and it can lead you to think a certain way," said Wollersheim.
But he isn't making that an excuse, he said.
His main point is to apologize, plain and simple.
"This is supposed to be a fun event and it should leave everyone feeling pepped,” said Wollersheim, “and if it is leaving people not feeling good or embarrassed or hurt then that is absolutely the opposite of what we are trying to do.”
