We’ve all bumped into a mannequin and apologized to them before—because how could we not? Some of these stores make their mannequins look ridiculously realistic. But Brandy Melville worker Bloo (@chan5l) was stunned after a customer mistook her for a mannequin. She explained the situation in a now-viral TikTok in which she admitted: “Maybe this is my one original experience.”
In the clip, which at the time of writing has amassed 4.6 million views, Bloo reenacted the shocking moment a “customer gripped [her] head and shook [her] around because they thought [she] was a mannequin.”
As she mimicked the way a customer aggressively shook her head, commenters couldn’t get over how embarrassing the moment must have been for both parties.
@chan5l maybe this is my one original experience #retail ♬ Murder On The Dancefloor – Sophie Ellis-Bextor
“That customer is gonna relive that moment in embarrassment for the rest of their life,” one predicted, while another asked what we were all thinking: “Okay, but first of all, who does that to a mannequin?”
“One time i got a fright because a person suddenly popped into my peripheral, laughed cos I realised it was a mannequin, then immediately jumped again because I realised it was in fact, a living person,” a third admitted.
Meanwhile, other retail workers commented to point out that this was far from a unique experience.
“I work at Build-A-Bear and this has the same energy as people punching our giant display bear,” a further commenter revealed.
Bloo didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok comment.
In fairness, you can’t entirely blame customers for being cautious. TikTok user @tugreckless went viral in March 2022 for what he calls a “mannequin prank gone wrong,” as a man in a white morph suit terrifies children after pretending to be a mannequin in Target.
Also, this isn’t the first time Brandy Melville has caused chaos on TikTok. In April 2022, former Brandy Melville worker Emily (@emilyvannoten) claimed that workers were required to take photos of “cute” customer outfits and send them to the head office.
“They took pics of each employee’s fit each day too and sent it to head office to make sure we were dressing the part,” she added in a further comment.