Prank channels and controversy often go hand in hand, but one Walmart prank video, in particular, is angering viewers.
A video posted to the @kingzehn TikTok earlier this month features one of the pranksters dressed up in business casual attire and pretending to be a corporate manager at Walmart.
“We are going to have to let you go,” he says to a random employee shelving products on the floor.
The worker seems jarred and quietly asks if it’s OK if he checks with his team lead about it.
“This is kind of random, having a guy come up saying that they have to let me go, you know?” he says.
The video cuts out to show the same prank being played on two additional workers, both of whom were at least eventually told on camera that they were being pranked.
“Oh my gosh, dude,” one of the employees says after the reveal. “That’s scary, man.”
Pranks that interfere with retail or service workers’ livelihoods have always been some of the most harshly criticized pranks, as they’re often considered to be punching down and not particularly funny. A lot of viewers weren’t on board with this “joke.”
“The way that first guy reacted broke my heart… he seemed so defeated,” wrote @mylittlesunshine67.
“This one is just cruel,” added another TikTok user. “Not funny at all.”
“Jokes are funny… this is not,” agreed @rimcade.
Another user slammed the way pranks have morphed from “harmless bamboozles” into “psychological torture methods behind the label of ‘joke.’” Still others explained the problem with targeting people who already aren’t paid enough to deal with obnoxious customers.
“Definitely not a funny joke, playing with people’s anxiety, I’m sure these people have families depending on them,” @hluisleiva scolded.
This isn’t the only prank on the @kingzehn page that involves messing with people at work. However, many of them seem a lot more in line with traditional pranking that results in participants actually having a good laugh at the end.
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