They say one Swiftie’s trash is another Swiftie’s treasure, and that certainly looks to be the case for TikToker and Taylor Swift fan Ana Valeria (@anavaleriavn).
In a TikTok which has 1.6 million views as of Sunday, Ana filmed herself at the movie theatre swiping an “Eras Tour” merch cup from the trash before rinsing it out and re-filling it with soda.
“I wasn’t going to pay $15 for a PLASTIC cup,” she said via on-screen text.
“Taylor’s Eras tour movie but make it circular economy,” she jokingly added in the video’s description.
While dumpster diving seems like a peculiar way to get merch, plenty of viewers shared their own stories and assured Ana she was not alone.
“I was able to get 2 free cups because people left them at their seat after the film was over,” one commenter revealed. “Why would they pay for it and not bring them home?”
@anavaleriavn taylor’s eras tour movie but make it ✨circular economy✨ #taylorswift #erastourmovie #erasmoviepremiere @Taylor Swift ♬ Cruel Summer – Taylor Swift
“At the end of the film I checked to see if people left their buckets or cups,” another admitted. “Four people did, so I now have five.” A third asked, “Who in the world would throw away a cup that’s literally TAYLOR SWIFT but also waste $15?”
However, for other viewers, drinking out of the cup was perhaps a step too far. “No soap is CRAZY,” one commenter remarked. “I did this with a random cup and got sick,” a second recalled.
“Drinking straight out of a cup in the garbage is so [odd],” a third commenter added. “The cup is not that serious.”
Given how expensive it’s become to be a Taylor Swift fan as of late, you can hardly blame Ana for taking these drastic measures.
Tickets for the IRL “Eras” Tour became infamous for how extortionately high they were. Priced at around $550 for floor tickets, seats sold out on Ticketmaster almost instantly, only to be resold for thousands of dollars each on third-party sites like StubHub.
In fact, some fans were so desperate to get hold of tickets, that TikToker Isaac Jarman (@isaacjarman2) shared how he paid off his “entire college tuition” by selling his “Eras” tour tickets for $14,000.
Suddenly, $15 for a reusable cup doesn’t look so bad…
The Daily Dot reached out to Ana via TikTok direct message.
