A video captured a team of workers at Costco in a sort of industrial ballet packaging rotisserie chickens—and a lot of people found it to be beautiful.
The TikTok video documenting the Costco workers finding their rotisserie chicken rhythm came from creator Supe (@bamf_supe), getting more than 4.4 million views and 195,300 likes since putting it up on Monday.
In it, a trio of workers are doing an intricate dance. One is taking chickens off a spit and putting them into containers, a second is putting lids on the containers to seal up the chickens, and a third appears to be using a price gun to label the chickens and help keep the lids in place.
The creator notes in his caption, “They’re so smooth with it.”
Commenters agreed.
“Costco don’t fool around,” one remarked.
“This is a work of art,” observed another.
“Now that’s quite a system. Talk about teamwork!” someone else marveled. “Not to mention those chickens are so darn good!”
The video did bring forth some feelings about Costco rotisserie chickens in general.
“That’s crazy because Sam’s had 1 person working that many ovens,” said one commenter. “Working rotisserie was a nightmare; people acted like you had 6 hands.”
“Not shown: the 30 guests waiting for their chickens ready to fight to the death for one,” quipped another. That person then added, parenthetically, “I’ve had to experience this.”
That routine apparently crosses over to Costco competitor Sam’s Club, with one noting, “They sure do. I saw at Sam’s club and they we’re ready for them chickens. all bunch up.”
Someone else observed, “Yesss and the one who looks at like 6 different chickens before picking one.”
Another noted, “This was me and I had my baby and someone still tried to cut me.”
One confessed, however, “It’s my favorite part. I’m a pretty bulky meat head looking dude so people stay away from me haha.”
Costco rotisserie chickens are beloved by many customers, though for some earlier this year—according to an Allrecipes report—there was something “off” about the taste of the chickens for some customers. That article, dating back to March, noted that Redditors responded to a thread about the chickens, “describing the chicken as having a ‘weird chemical taste,’ a ‘distinct chlorine-like taste,’ or that the birds they purchased ‘tasted like the plastic they’re packaged in.'”
Allrecipes reported on the chickens once again in August, noting in the March story that “experts concluded the flavor came from the use of phosphates in the preservation process of the chicken,” while unveiling another issue: “Customers are reporting illness after eating the Costco chicken.”
The illness even befell one of Allrecipes’ editors and her family, and the article floated the theory that carrageenan, a thickening agent “commonly used as a stabilizing and gelling agent in the food industry,” might be the culprit. It is listed as an ingredient in Costco rotisserie chickens, according to the article, most likely in the salt brine solution used to make the chicken.
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment and Costco via online media form.