A 7 Brew customer captured the antics of an employee who indiscriminately used his drink-wiping rag in a stunning variety of places. The TikTok video capturing what the creator said left her “SPEECHLESS” came from Kyla (@kyladiane). It’s been viewed more than 300,000 times since going up Thursday, with a follow-up video from Saturday getting a more modest view count approaching 3,500.
The video, using a TikTok voice generator, starts with a common TikTok trope: “7 Brew, count your days,” before qualifying it with “because this was one of the nastiest things I’ve ever seen a restaurant do.”
What happened?
The video captures an employee standing next to a car at the drive-thru coffee store, as 7 Brew is conceptually similar to a Dutch Bros. The rear passenger side door has its window down, an adorable dog is peeking out of it, and the employee is giving the dog whipped cream out of a cup.
“Personally, I thought it was nasty that the employee was the one holding the cup for the dog because the dog was getting whipped cream and drool all down the man’s hand and licking it and stuff,” the voice-over explained. “But I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Like, if he washed his hands before the next customer, I guess it’d be cool, but it got worse.”
The video focuses on the rag that the employee is holding in his hand. “Did y’all see the rag that that man went to get? Well, he used it to wipe the dog’s face, and since it had gotten whipped cream everywhere, he wipin’ the side of this woman’s car. I’m thinking, ‘What kinda service she gettin’ that he washing the dog and detailing her car?’ but I digress.”
The plot thickens
The employee uses the same rag to wipe the side of the drink of the next customer who pulls up before handing the customer the cup.
“He used the same dog drool-soaked rag,” the voice-over continues, “that he also used to wipe down the woman’s car with, to wipe down these people’s drink, and then set it down for the next victim.”
Then, with the video providing a close-up view of the rag, the narration says, “And as you can see, it’s got these wet spots that I’m pretty sure was the spit. … 7 Brew, come on; you just lost one today.”
@kyladiane SPEECHLESS 🤮🤮🤮 #foryoupage #fyp ♬ original sound – Funny Sound Effects
What is 7 Brew, exactly?
Founded in Arkansas in 2017, the growing national chain is capitalizing on the drive-thru coffee trend that is helping it and Dutch Bros. to challenge for a piece of the Starbucks-dominated U.S. coffee market.
Its website notes, “7 Brew was born from a desire to change drive-thru coffee into a fun, mind-blowing experience for everyone. We dreamed of serving premium coffee in record time and making new friends while we’re at it. The dream came alive with our first ‘stand’ in Rogers, AR and our 7 original coffees.”
According to World Coffee Portal, the store has grown to more than 200 stores spread across 26 different states as of this past March.
7 Brew Marketing Director Nick Newbill told the publication, “One of our most significant successes includes our unit size increasing by 275% in less than a year during 2023. We’re also extremely proud of the loyal following we’ve accumulated over the years, which wouldn’t be possible without our team members and franchise partners. It’s a testament to the training we offer that we can consistently deliver superior speed, quality and customer service across all our stores.”
He dropped a staggering stat in another part of the article: “Our customers can select more than 20,000 possible beverage variations from our extensive list of flavoured syrups, sweet sauces, milk alternatives and other ingredients.” The drinks are, as you might expect, fully customizable.
What happened afterward?
Commenters were predictably horrified. One said, “The way my eyes got WIDE when you put two and two together about the rag.”
Another asked, “Why didnt y’all confront him? I’m sure that person would’ve appreciated it.”
“She don’t have to say anything to him,” someone else observed. “The company needs to confront him!!!”
Indeed, Kyla shared in a follow-up video that she reached out to the company after alerting another employee to the issue, and that employee, in her words, “kind of blew me off.”
She read 7 Brew’s response to her, which said, in part, “We take these matters very seriously, and this does not reflect our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of cleanliness and food safety. Please know that we are addressing this issue at the store to ensure the health and safety of our guests and to prevent such incidents in the future.”
Kyla said in that video that the response was what she was hoping for, and had the other employee addressed it then and there, she might have held back on a video that’s since gone viral.
The Daily Dot has reached out to 7 Brew via email and to Kyla via TikTok direct message.
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