Yahoo Lifestyle 
Bizarre twist in controversial Woolworths TikTok prank
A TikTok ‘prank’ video that went viral after it was slammed on Reddit has taken a bizarre turn.
The initial video claimed to show a young Australian man harassing an elderly man inside Woolies, snatching groceries from his trolley and following him as he walked up and down aisles, while a third person filmed.
The video sparked outrage after it was shared to popular Reddit page ‘trashy’ where it attracted almost 2,000 comments in a few hours, but a new video shared by the TikToker behind the prank, Brooke Roberts, sheds a new light on the video.
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Initially, the footage was dubbed ‘bullying’ and ‘pathetic’ by horrified Reddit users.
“Odd how they seem to always try to prank older people & not someone who might just turn around and ram them or worse smack them,” one person observed.
“This is just straight-up harassment,” another wrote.
However, in a new follow-up video Brooke, who boasts almost half a million TikTok followers and regularly uploads prank videos, reveals the entire thing was scripted.
To prove it, he shares the ‘behind-the-scenes footage’.
In it, the cameraman can be heard giving direction to both the elderly gentleman and the younger prankster.
The trio also do several takes of the scenes included in the original video, which seems to have since been removed from the social media platform.
In one particularly illuminating moment, the unidentified elderly man reacts several times as the young man grabs a packet of Red Rock Deli chips from his trolley and opens it, the cameraman instructing them both when to ‘start walking’ and ‘go again’.
They’re also seen interacting with the camera directly.
“If it’s on the Internet then it must be true,” the follow-up video is captioned.
Even once the ‘staging’ was revealed however, people remained unimpressed with the prank.
“Even if it’s staged it’s still not funny,” one person wrote on the follow-up video.
“This isn’t funny at all,” another pointed out.
At least one did see the humour in the situation.
“Am I the only one who thinks it’s funny?” one person wrote.
Yahoo Lifestyle has contacted Brooke for further comment.
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