How far would you go to get free drinks on a night out?
Nearly everyone has celebrated a belated birthday or sweet-talked their way into a free drink or two, but a TikTok couple took it two steps further. In a viral TikTok uploaded in January, a pair of almost-strangers faked a marriage proposal to get free drinks, and it’s splitting opinions online.
The video, shared by user @scandyyland, is overlaid with text that says, “So we met this random guy at Texas live last night and planned a fake proposal with him.”
In the background of the video, a man in a baseball cap and gray hoodie kneels on the floor of a lively club. The people surrounding him and his fake fiancee erupt in applause and raise their glasses as the two embrace. More text overlaying the video reads, “People we didn’t even know got so hype about it and made it so fun.”
The video pans to show more patrons who have crowded around to celebrate with the duo. The booze flowed liberally, and the couple didn’t pay for a single drink. “This is your sign to have a fake proposal with a random guy you meet at the bar,” @scandyyland captioned the post.
In a later TikTok, @scandyyland, who goes by Shelbi on the platform, clarified that she is not the fake fiancee in the video. That’s her friend, Liz, who was showered with applause and free booze with her new guy.
The January proposal TikTok went viral this week after it was shared to Reddit’s r/Trashy forum. The post tried to paint the pair as trashy for tricking other bar patrons—and potentially staff—into giving them free drinks over a fake proposal. In the comment section, however, people stood by Liz and her fake beau, calling the stunt “harmless fun.”
“If anything they made the night more fun for everyone there,” one user wrote.
Others, calling the act a “pro move,” argued that overpriced bar drinks make tricks like this a necessity. And as one user pointed out, the duo looks like they had a delightful time with other patrons.
“Is the ‘why’ of buying/sharing drinks (expense included) with your fellow bar patrons really all that important,” Redditor u/BarryBadgernath1 asked. “Fake or not it’s just one more reason to interact with each other in the interest of something positive.”
In the meantime, Liz and her fake fiancé aren’t quite finished. Their prank ended with the evening, but they clicked in the process. In a series of updates from January, @scandyyland informed viewers that Liz and her new guy had been hanging out “every day, nonstop.” She even met his parents.
When users demanded proof of this happy ending, Shelbi brought Liz on to confirm it herself. A final TikTok featuring the legend herself was posted on Jan. 3, proving to naysayers that a happily-ever-after can start with a fake TikTok marriage proposal.
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