A person who apparently was doing recon at Goodwill while shopping discovered that an Olive Garden to-go container was being sold among the donated merchandise.
The video came from creator @brianaautumnwilson, and it’s generated more than 1.3 million views since it went up on the platform March 31.
The video pans shelves at what appears to be a Goodwill store, and the narrator says, “So I’m walking around Goodwill,” before stopping at a shelf which has some kitchenware on it. The narrator then stops to pick up a black container that might look familiar to diners of a certain chain restaurant.
The narrator flips it over within view of the camera, showing the bottom of it. “This is an Olive Garden to-go container,” she assesses, showing a Goodwill sticker pricing it for $1.01.
@brianaautumnwilson Goodwill knows they are dead wrong for that 🤣🤣👏 #goodwill #ridiculous #free #OG #breadsticks #wrong #fail #togo ♬ It’s Called: Freefall (Sped Up) – Rainbow Kitten Surprise
The creator’s caption reads, “Goodwill knows they are dead wrong for that” to reveal how she really felt.
According to the Goodwill website, the nonprofit operates a series of stores across the U.S. predicated on this concept: “When you donate your new and gently used items, local Goodwill organizations sell them in stores and online generating revenue to provide valuable employment training and job placement services for people in your community.”
So … does an Olive Garden container that presumably held Olive Garden leftovers constitute a “gently used” item?
Commenters weighed in on the find.
“That’s a steal!!” one person cracked. “Normally, I just order Olive Garden and toss the food for the container.”
Another claiming to have insider info said, “As a Goodwill employee it don’t surprise me. They tell us to sort everything and they mean everything.”
“Goodwill is getting out of hand,” one person assessed.
But another theorized they wouldn’t really be selling them, offering, “They do that so they can write it off. They won’t sell it and they trash them but still get a write off.”
And another person chimed in, assessing them as actually valuable by saying, “I mean, they’re microwaveable and dishwasher safe. It’s essentially Tupperware.” (That set off a brief exchange debating whether or not they actually are safe to put in a microwave or dishwasher. They are generally considered to be microwave safe.)
The episode led to other anecdotes about strange items on sale at Goodwill and even at other stores within that vague universe. “One time at Savers,” a commenter began, “they had USPS priority mail boxes (the ones you get for free) for like $2-$4 each.”
Finally, one person mentioned that the video could use the “you’re joking” sound making the rounds on TikTok.
The creator obliged, to comic effect.
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator and to Goodwill for comment.