Two unlucky women known as the Olive Oil Girl and the Nuuly Poop Subway Girl have become the stars of the Pepe the King Prawn meme on TikTok. Their stories, told via slideshows captioned with the orange muppet staring in abject horror, and to the sound of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer,” skyrocketed the TikTok trend into fame. Nothing goes viral quite like public humiliation.
The meme was made for embarrassing or horrific tales, and these two got it so bad that related companies have made contact with the victims for their own marketing campaigns.
Who is the Olive Oil Girl on TikTok?
The Olive Oil Girl’s story is one of a cascading series of increasingly terrible events set off by an ambitious attempt at an olive oil hair mask. Told that her hair looked like hay at the sensitive age of 17, TikToker Megan Chacalos (@meganchacalos) tried the mask one night but used too much oil, slipped and knocked herself unconscious, then woke up in pitch darkness and set off the household burglar alarm.
Then it got worse.
@meganchacalos The olive oil story
♬ Like a Prayer (Choir Version From “Deadpool & Wolverine”) – I’ll Take You There Choir
Chacalos’ tale went mega-viral with over 61 million views as of the time of writing. Her reenactment video, posted later the same day, has 22.5 million views.
As an actor and storyteller, Chacalos has been making silly TikTok and YouTube videos for a while and is a bit baffled that this is the one that broke through the noise. In a message to the Daily Dot, she describes her newfound fame as validating yet intimidating as people recognize her on the street and offer her brand deals.
“No more parading around Manhattan in pjs!” she says.
Luckily, her experience in theatrical producing lent her experience with contracts, and she’s determined to only boost the brands she honestly supports.
“I’ve been very careful with how I’ve dealt with the collaborations and partnerships,” Chacalos explained. “If I don’t actually love the product, I turn them down. I really believe in being truthful with the brands I support.”
Aside from these pressures, the Olive Oil Girl is delighted that people are finally recognizing her comedic talent, even if it took some real vulnerability to get there.
“Millions of people have been looking through my TikTok and IG, saying things like, ‘Wow! You’re hilarious! Where have you been?’” she wrote. “I’ve been here internet! The question is, where have YOU ALL been!”
Who is the Nuuly Poop Subway Girl?
More horrifying than having to go to school with your hair in Saran wrap is what happened to Tess Hill (@tessyhill). She had the ultimate nightmare subway experience, but in rented jeans that would cost her $200 if she failed to return them. Yes, she sat in human feces. Yes, she cried her eyes out.
Thankfully, a Lululemon shop was nearby, where the staff let her change into a pair of their leggings and gave her a “you just sat in another human’s sh*t” discount of 75 percent.
@tessyhill im the girl who sat in shit on the subway
♬ original sound – te$$
Hill didn’t do a reenactment, but did post a video of her once again sitting on the subway—though she says she now always, always looks before sitting. In a response post, she puts some of the blame on the other passengers who broke the “cardinal rule” of staying off the subway car with poop in it.
Graza responds to the Olive Oil Girl TikTok video
As part of another marketing tactic by olive oil company Graza, the company sent two employees dressed as bottles of their oil to Chacalos’ home. She greeted them with her hair in Saran wrap and they gifted her a bottle of their finest with a custom label reading “cooking and hair oil.”
Chacalos later filmed herself trying a more conservative olive oil hair mask with this brand. She reported phenomenal results.
“This is ACTUALLY the shiniest my hair has ever been,” she wrote. “I’m gobsmacked by the results. Someone else needs to try this.”
According to Chacalos, Graza contacted her and offered to send her a gift package. The TikToker assumed they meant through the mail, and was shocked when a pair of costumes arrived at her door.
“When their team showed up in the costumes, it was a complete surprise,” Chacalos told us. “It was truly hysterical. I felt bad because they had to climb five flights of stairs in the costumes while carrying a bunch of olive oil.”
Nuuly responds to the Nuuly Poop Subway Girl
Meanwhile, Nuuly reacted to Hill’s viral story with a Pepe the King Prawn meme video of their own. Their social media manager told the story of how they found out about Hill and the way her story haunted them over the weekend until they walked into the office on Monday and found everybody talking about “sh*tgate.”
As reported on her marketing trends Substack After School by Casey Lewis, Nuuly used this chance to explain some of the policies that might be on the minds of many customers right now.
“They saw an opportunity to let consumers know that they thoroughly wash their clothes, that they removed the specific jeans from rotation, and that they would help users — and not charge them—should they ever find themselves in similarly cursed situations,” says Lewis.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @tessyhill for comment via TikTok.
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