In a TikTok, a grocery store shopper shared how perplexed she was to find the empty shelves covered with printed photos of food.
In the video, Paige (@cosmicwildp) is filming in the middle of an aisle at the grocery store. She shows viewers that while the shelves look full, the items on display, including Cheez-Its and bottles of apple juice, aren’t there. Instead, the unnamed grocery store hung up large printed sheets made to give the appearance of items on a grocery store shelf.
“Just when you thought grocery shopping couldn’t get any worse,” Paige says in the video.
For those who may have also been fooled by the illusion, Paige shows that when she reaches for an item, she can’t physically grab anything since her hand runs into a literal plastic sheet.
“I’m so upset by this,” Paige adds.
@cosmicwildp If you want tips on how to hate grocery shopping even more, have them change everything around and then throw in printed photos of food
♬ original sound – Cosmo Paige
At the end of the video, she shows that the grocery store only added to the confusion by having real items, like boxes of Topo Chico, next to the illusion items.
The clip has garnered more than 40,000 views and about 150 comments as of Wednesday morning.
“If you want tips on how to hate grocery shopping even more, have them change everything around and then throw in printed photos of food,” the caption reads.
While some commenters speculated that the grocery store was masking a food shortage, Paige replied, letting them know that the reality is that the grocery store is in the process of adding a liquor store and has been moving the grocery store layout around.
“Maybe like a placeholder thing while they do a renovation of the aisle,” a commenter clarified.
“Its like when disneyland tries to hide construction,” another wrote.
Several commenters poked fun at the situation.
“Perhaps the real groceries were the friends we made along the way,” the top comment read.
“The real grocery shopping experience without the hassle of grocery buying,” another person joked.
The Daily Dot reached out to Paige via TikTok comment.
