Advertisement
Trending

‘Fell for that’: Man buys 20 ribeyes for $40. Then he looks at the meat

‘I got played.’

Photo of Jack Alban

Jack Alban

Raw meat(l), Man talking(c), Cooked meat(r)
@.itzcoatl/TikTok (Licensed)

A Texas consumer says they were bamboozled by a too-good-to-be-true steak deal. Jess (@.itzcoatl) uploaded a viral TikTok showing off the meat they purchased. The clip accrued 4.6 million views as of Monday.

Featured Video

Steak scam?

“Fell for that 20 ribeyes for 40 bucks,” a text overlay in the video reads.

Jess shows off a frozen package of meat in his hand. And it doesn’t really resemble the type of ribeye steak you’d find in the meat section of a grocery store.

Advertisement

Furthermore, the size of the individually wrapped steaks in question appears to be much smaller than an average ribeye.

Numerous commenters who replied to the video shared their thoughts. One person appears to have also tried it for themselves.

“They tough as hell too,” they wrote. “You can press em in a vice grip and they still hard as hell. I’m still chewing on one from two years ago.”

Someone else said folks who purchase these steaks should probably know better. That’s because there’s a popular adage that speaks to the quality, or lack thereof, of discount meat.

Advertisement

“Sooooo no body ever heard the phrase ‘tougher than a 2 dollar steak,’” they said.

One person likened the portion sizes to a popular fast food offering: “Them the White Castle patties.”

Another said they, too, were disappointed with a similar purchase. So much so that they refused to eat them, or throw them out. “I still have a deep freezer full of ribeye new York strips and t-bones. Never go to a meat van that waves you down in the middle of the street in Phoenix Arizona,” they commented.

More 20 for $40 hate

Additionally, others online have maligned the same meat bargain Jess opined about in the TikTok. Redditor @cjswcf uploaded a post with a picture of a tent advertising an identical deal. They noted that the person selling the steaks was housing these wares from the bed of a pick-up truck.

Advertisement

One commenter said these deals are usually a marketing ploy.

“If it’s anything like the steak tent sales near me, they lure you in with this ‘deal.’ And then try to sell you on $500 worth of other stuff. When you tell them you only want the advertised steaks, they reach into a freezer. [Then, they] give you probably the worst steaks you’ve ever had,” they wrote.

Another test

A Cincinnati news outlet, WCPO, performed its own assessment of the steaks that were being touted in a mall parking lot. Indeed, they also said the salesperson attempted to upsell them on different cuts of meat. They remained steadfast in only wanting the 20 ribeyes for $40, which they then acquired.

Advertisement

Afterward, the media organization showed the steaks off to mall customers and asked for their assessment. One person said they looked like “hamburger” patties, adding that they probably wouldn’t eat them.

Following this, they took the steaks they purchased to a local steakhouse where a chef prepared them. For comparison, the eatery also fired up a grocery store-cut ribeye steak. The differences were readily apparent. WCPO said the discount ribeye was “a bit grisly, but edible.” However, the one purchased at Kroger “looked and tasted like an expensive steakhouse cut by comparison.”

@.itzcoatl

Not gon lie I got played like a mothafka

♬ sad SpongeBob music – michael

Who’s selling these things?

Furthermore, the news agency penned that there seem to be several different companies offering this deal. The one where they purchased their steaks were from StarSouth Steaks of Mississippi. According to the Better Business Bureau’s website, several purchasers complained about the quality of the meat. Also, one customer complained about not being given a $100 refund after being dissatisfied with their purchase.

Advertisement

WCPO went on to write that the packaging for these steaks indicated a 15% tenderizing solution was added to it.

The Daily Dot has reached out to StarSouth Steaks via email and Jess via TikTok comment.


Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.

 
The Daily Dot