A woman’s TikTok where she claims she found a rat inside the can of an Alani energy drink is going viral, however, some believe the original clip is so difficult to find because it’s a false claim.
TikToker Katherine (@notaverykatherine) posted her own response to the purported video on the application, stating that she’s unable to tag additional creators in the clip and that Alani has somehow managed to get the original uploader “shadow banned,” after threatening her, and presumably TikTok, over showing the clip.
“A full grown rat was found in an Alani can and I’m so convinced that TikTok is shadow-banning this girl’s video because Alani’s threatening lawsuits,” Katherine says.
At this point in the video, the woman grimaces into the camera before stating, “Are you ready? Brace yourself,” before cutting to a green screen of the other purported rat-finding woman’s video.
The woman in the clip promises to “show the rat,” before pointing the camera into the top of the Alani can and then turning it over on its side and cutting the bottom of the can open.
The rat’s tail pokes out from the bottom of the newly cut can as Katherine starts gagging on camera to intone how disgusted she is to see the canned rodent. The other TikToker positions the can to show off more of the critter that seemed to have managed to sneak its way into the canned energy beverage, somehow.
“Like it makes me literally want to throw up like I am gonna throw up,” Katherine says. “I have goosebumps. That is the most rancid thing I’ve seen since the spider in the Stanley and if you don’t know what I’m talking about look it up. But oh my gosh, what the actual h I’m spreading awareness right now.”
There are a few people on social media who find the rat-in-an-Alani can story a bit on the “sus” side, like Redditors who thought it was odd the original content creator’s clip hasn’t been found on TikTok, but rather reposted through other people’s videos.
“It’s impossible to find the original. Super sus,” one person wrote while someone else remarked, “Right?! I can’t find anything online….”
@notaverykatherine Replying to @pates! #greenscreenvideo ♬ original sound – notaverykatherinewood
Someone else penned, “Idk I feel like this is a lil sus on the original TikTok creator. That flavor of Alani is deeply colored so that rat should atleast have some amount of dyed fur/skin. The video only got ‘scrubbed’ because alani started threatening lawsuits and the girl deleted everything to save her a**.”
However, one person echoed Katherine’s suspicion that the influencer’s account was ultimately “shadow-banned” from TikTok because the $3 billion energy drink company threatened them.
One person said someone found a rat inside their can of Celsius, another popular energy drink brand. In 2018, Fox 16 reported that an Arkansas man purchased a can of Red Bull at a gas station, took a few sips from it, and left it in his vehicle. The next day, when he went to go and pour the beverage out, he heard a “thud” in the can. When he looked inside, he saw a dead mouse. Cutting a hole in the can and seeing the rodent fall out confirmed his initial suspicions.
The same thing purportedly happened to a Washington resident who, in 2011, sued the Hansen Beverage Company after also finding a deceased rodent in his energy drink: a Monster. The popular energy drink brand denied the customer’s claims in a rebuttal to the man’s lawsuit, stating that he would’ve known right from the get-go if there was a dead mammal in the can from the very first sip.
TikTokers who saw Katherine’s video seemed just as disturbed as she was by the alleged find. One person wrote that there was another popular beverage that purportedly had to start placing clear bottoms on its packaging for folks to see what the contents of the bottle were: “Do y’all remember when caprisons had to make the bottom clear because of something like this?!”
Another replied, “Remember when a guy tried to say this with Mountian Dew and MD said it was impossible because the rat would dissolve way before he would have even bought the can?”
Others, like this person, were just disgusted.
“HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN,” another said. “WHAT THE HELLLLLLLLLLLL.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to both Katherine and Alani via email for further comment.
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