We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to share their promposal fails...and we cringed. A lot. Here they are:
1. "A guy I was dating put a sign on his car that just said 'Prom?' He started driving around me in the parking lot, honking his horn. He crashed into two different cars and got grounded, so we didn't go anyways."
2. "A senior at my school dressed up in the school's mascot outfit (a furry snake) and asked a girl to prom during a pep rally, in front of the whole school. He had the whole band and sports team cheering him on. The cheerleaders even held up signs behind him...then the girl he was asking walked out and said 'no' into the microphone.
3. "I was dating this guy, prom was a few weeks away, and he still hadn’t asked me. One morning I opened my locker and a ton of tennis balls fell out with a note saying, 'I finally got the BALLS to ask you to prom!' Embarrassed, I told him 'yes' and we went to prom. After prom we broke up and I found out he wasn't even the one who put the tennis balls in my locker! Guess he didn’t 'have the balls' to ask me after all!"
4. "I had a huge crush on this guy who I knew was WAY out of my league, but went for it anyways. I knew he really liked running, so I made a poster that said, 'I’d run a thousand miles to be with you' and asked if he would go to prom with me – while wearing running gear. He looked at me like I was an idiot and his GIRLFRIEND (that I didn't know he had) ran up and gave me a disgusted look. I was so embarrassed, I sprinted away."
5. "My boyfriend borrowed his mom’s work van and filled it to the brim with balloons that all said 'Will you go to prom with me?' It was my older brother's responsibility to make me leave the house, so my BF could surprise me. While my bf was driving over, he saw my brother and I coming up the same road and panicked, thinking I would see him. In order to avoid us, he quickly took a right-hand turn while a woman tried to go around him and ended up T-boning and totaling his mom's van. All that I saw was the van getting crushed and hundreds of balloons flying into the sky!"
6. “Someone at my school planned a huge promposal that included flowers, a poster, and music playing right in the middle of the central hangout area of the school. About 100 people were swarming the area, all with cameras. The only problem was the guy did it a week after prom ticket sales ended.”
7. "I was walking to class with my boyfriend when he handed me a Post-It asking me. He later earned the nickname 'Post-It' from my family."
8. "I had gym class with this guy who I spent the whole semester flirting back and forth with, including over text and Snapchat. It was always pretty innocent, but nevertheless, he led me on and I started to catch feels. When it came time for prom, I decided that I was going to admit my feelings for him by asking him to go to prom with me. I did it in front of our whole gym class and was mortified when his response was, 'Well, that sounds fun, but I don’t know how my girlfriend would feel about it.' Needless to say, that was one of the last times I spoke to him."
9. “I opened my front door and there was a fish bowl — with a fish inside of it — on the doorstep with a sign that said, ‘You’re the only fish in the sea for me. Will you go to prom with me?’ I then had the responsibility of looking after that fish for the next four years. I never wanted a pet fish to begin with, but somehow I ended up with one.”
10. "I liked this guy and wanted to ask him to prom, so I made a big poster that said 'Out of all the fruit out there, you’re one FINE-apple! PROM?' And it was so cute! However, the day I planned on doing it, I was told by one of my friends that she heard that the boy in question was 'uncomfortable' with the idea of going to prom with me. When the time came to ask him, he completely avoided me, so I chickened out. I later found out he ended up going to prom and knew about my poster and plan to ask him, he just wasn’t interested."
11. "A guy who I didn't really talk to much asked me to prom with a poster that said, 'Will you flaminGO with to prom with me?' While holding the sign, a guy came up behind him, pantsed him, and ran away. He was wearing bright blue boxers with tiny pink flamingos on them, awkwardly waiting for a response from me. I told him I would think about it and texted him the next day that I couldn't go with him."
12. "I planned an elaborate promposal to my then-boyfriend. I spent a week making signs (like that carolers scene in Love Actually) that I was going to show while the song "Heroes" by David Bowie was playing in the background. All excited, I pull up to his apartment, get the song ready, and ring the bell. No answer. I stood there alone with the music playing for about 10 minutes. Then I turned around and saw him. He was just getting home from the store and, of all things, he had toilet paper in his hands."
13. "My high school boyfriend had his family arranged candles that said 'PROM' in the garage while we were getting dinner. When we got back to his house, I was on my phone, so when he stopped outside the garage I asked, 'Why aren’t you pulling in?' instead of noticing the message on the floor. I did say 'yes' when I eventually noticed, but I felt like I ruined it."
Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.