His daughter asked him to create a TikTok account. It now has over 80 million views.
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IDAHO FALLS — What seemed like a joke between a daughter and her dad about getting views and making money by creating TikTok videos suddenly became a reality.
Ashlyn Allen, 19, from Idaho Falls, has had TikTok for several years. She started posting videos and told her dad, Tom Allen, that she wished she could make money from her account.
“I see all of these influencers making TikToks and making money and that would be my dream,” she said. “So I was making TikToks and he was like, ‘Well, I think I could probably get some views on my TikTok.'”
She thought her dad was joking.
“Then she’s like, ‘You should definitely start an account,’ and I said, ‘Would that be embarrassing for you though if I got more views than you?’ And she’s like, ‘Dad, that’s not going to happen,'” Tom explained.
Tom created an account on TikTok under the username @dadofdrama almost six months ago. He suddenly blew up and now has over 80 million views on his account.
“I had one (video) that’s almost at 16 million views right now. (In the video) I was just joking around and saying that Amazon has asked for proof that I didn’t get my package. I just kind of walk out and stare at my porch, and there’s nothing there,” Tom said.
His videos started getting shared on other social media platforms.
“These accounts had reposted his TikTok on Instagram and it just kind of blows your mind because you never think that it’s really going to happen to somebody you know. It’s been fun to see the interaction he gets with his followers and its been fun to see how it’s just kind of taken off,” said Lisa Allen, Tom’s wife.
Tom’s TikToks are simple. Most of them show his face with an expression and then text that can be relatable to anyone’s life.
“I knew I was on the lower quadrant of looks, so that was out immediately…and I can’t dance…so I kind of had to default on what I did know and that was pretty much being a husband and a dad. So I just kind of started making TikToks about things that were funny to me about raising kids or being married,” Tom said.
At first, his videos would get a standard 50 or 90 views but over time, it began to increase.
“I think right now, as I look at my analytics, I’m averaging about 2.7 million views per week,” he said.
The 43-year-old real estate agent says he creates one video a day and is making some extra money.
“That’s even crazy too because I just do it for fun but if they (TikTok) are going to pay me for it, well that’s great too. Right now, it’s enough to buy a couple of nice steak dinners….not quite a carton of eggs, but we’ll get there at some point,” Tom said, laughing. “It’s cool. Every day, they pay you based on your views.”
He says he’ll keep making videos and see what happens as time goes on. He would have never imagined any of this would happen since he created the account.
“I think it’s crazy that people care about what a middle-aged dude from Idaho thinks, but it’s more just about making content I think that people relate to, and they can watch it and say, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s funny. I’ve had that same experience with my kids or my wife,'” he said. “There are so many funny things around us in life. It’s nice to try and put a smile on someone’s face for a minute and make them laugh.”
As for Ashlyn, she says she’s not nearly as popular as her dad on the social media app, but it makes her laugh knowing that all of this has happened.
“It’s definitely kind of crazy and a lot of my friends, even my coworkers, are like, ‘Oh my gosh, I saw your dad on TikTok…random people that I have gone to school with will be like, ‘No way! Is that your dad? I follow him on TikTok!’ It’s just funny,” she said.