Talk about pour taste.
A TikTok channel has come under fire for allegedly staging a video where a couple gives an extraordinary tip to a struggling Starbucks barista — one who doesn’t actually work in the store, an employee claims.
The clip — posted to @AlohaOcean in mid-September — shows a blonde man in a green apron fumbling with five drinks as he walks toward a parked car, getting over a $100 tip from the driver in return for the effort.
“I’m a little new,” he sympathetically tells the couple filming in the car before leaping for joy upon getting the gratuity.
But the whole thing was actually a hoax and the real employees of the Starbucks couldn’t do anything but watch the scumbag stunt, according to Twitter user and real employee @yungmoneymal.
“They filmed this in front of my store (the person with the apron on in the video does not work here),” she tweeted along with the video that’s now been seen almost 5 million times on Twitter.
“And they did not actually tip any of the baristas.”
The believed-to-be employee’s account was backed up online as well by another user who said she previously knew the man filming inside the car.
He’s an old coworker I used to work with as a lifeguard back in 2014.” @brittanyluneart replied. “This video is staged the driver is his gf :).”
Since the TikTok crew’s alleged plot was foiled, people have been calling out their poor taste on the AlohaOcean channel.
“YOU GOT CAUGHT,” posted TikTok user kitamilo.
“Oscar acting bravo,” commented Edgar Salvador on the original clip.
“The jig is up,” another TikToker yazzysaid wrote.
Since her tweet went viral, @yungmoneymal used the platform to do a PSA on why actually tipping your workers is so important.
“Please Be kind to your baristas, waiters, servers, cashiers (and everyone else) & if you ever have some extra cash or if you’re in the position to tip, it is always appreciated,” she tweeted.
AlohaOcean previously posted a similar video at the same Starbucks where a different green apron-wearing man takes a sip from someone’s drink carside.
The fake tip recipient also stars in another video where he pretends to be a blind pilot with a walking stick going through security at an airport.
