A Costco customer recorded what seems to be footage of a frustrated employee tossing chickens on the floor.
TikTok user @_jml.lc.jmlj.yel_ uploaded the footage to their TikTok account. The clip, which has garnered over 244,000 views, prompted hundreds of comment responses. Some sympathized with the employee, whereas others decried the act.
Chicken on the floor
“Costco employee throwing rotisserie chicken on the floor,” a text overlay in the video reads. The TikToker records a Costco employee working in the rotisserie section. Next, this worker tosses bags of chicken onto stainless steel racks. One bag slides across the metal shelf and tumbles to the ground.
Off-camera, it sounds like the TikToker is admonishing the employee. “Look it, what’d I tell you?” a person says in reference to the worker’s actions. “You got these chickens on the floor.”
The same employee tosses another chicken on the rack, which also slides and falls off the shelf.
Seeing the bagged, cooked poultry on the ground, a female customer quickly walks up to the items. Then, she hastily scoops them up from the ground and places them on the shelves before walking away.
@_jml.lc.jmlj.yel_ San Leandro Costco Employee throws rotisserie chicken on the floor and does not care #costcofinds #Bayarea #SanLeandroCa #TikTok #Viral #viralvideo #Costcoemployee #rotisseriechicken #costco #goldentickets ♬ original sound – _tl.jml.lc.jmljr.yel_
A Costco staple
Shoppers of the popular bulk retailer would probably place its rotisserie chicken as a top-value item. For years, the hefty cooked chickens have retailed for $4.99. Real Simple reported in 2023 that the chain moved some 137 million birds into customers’ stomachs.
The food store staple has become a low-priced, convenient source of protein for many Americans. In fact, there are entire cookbooks dedicated to different recipes that center around the rotisserie chickens.
Moreover, there have been additional Costco rotisserie chicken incidents involving customers that have gone viral online. One Redditor’s post was uploaded to the site’s r/Costco sub. User @ProjectAcceptable532 was shocked at a physical altercation that erupted between a couple of patrons over the food.
“I had the pleasure of seeing two grown women (with their children present) fight over the last rotisserie chicken,” they wrote. “I haven’t had one in a few years, but I can’t imagine they are good enough to warrant that level of aggression.”
TikTokers respond
One Costco employee who replied to the video stated that they could understand where the worker was coming from. “As a costco employee i feel the same way sometimes,” they said.
Additionally, someone else remarked that patrons will constantly pester Costco workers about the status of chickens. “They get annoyed AF of people standing there waiting or asking ‘is it ready yet’ ‘when is if ready,” they commented.
Another thought the sliding bags were a consequence of the retailer’s decision to ditch the chicken’s older, bin packaging. “The plastic trays need to come back. I hate the bags they make the chicken taste off.”
Someone else echoed this sentiment: “Because they changed the packaging and he’s probably used to tossing the containers that get caught by the small lip of the rack like the one above it.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Costco via email and @tl.jml.lc.jmljr.yel via TikTok comment for further information.
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