‘The two girls nowhere to be found’: Austin man sees two Walmart shoppers filming Angel Tree shopping video. Then he finds their full cart—abandoned
Influencers head to Walmart to participate in the retailer’s Angel Tree holiday giving campaign. However, one Austin, Texas, shopper believes some TikTokers may be pretending to participate.
TikToker Misha Brown (@yourbestiemisha) shares the disturbing behind-the-scenes look he got into an Angel Tree shopping video at Walmart.
“I saw a new low when it comes to social media,” he laments in a video, garnering 4.8 million views.
Brown explains that he saw two young women shopping for Angel Tree at Walmart and filming the process.
“They have a cart full of stuff, and they’re filming, and I hear the girl say, ‘OMG this kid is gonna love his Christmas,'” he recounts. “They were doing an Angel Tree shopping video.”
What is Walmart Angel Tree?
Walmart partners with charity The Salvation Army to compile Angel Tree wish lists from kids whose families can’t afford presents.
Walmart displays the wish lists, with identifying features such as age, gender, and interests, on Christmas trees at the front of its stores.
Shoppers can grab an Angel Tree card and shop for the child’s wish list items in person. They can even use their own judgment based on the interests shared on the card to surprise the child with items they might not have specified on their list.
The shopper purchases the items and places them in the collection area. Then Walmart sends them back to the Salvation Army to be wrapped and delivered to the child.
Did the TikTokers pretend to buy the gifts?
Angel Tree shopping videos have garnered millions of views on TikTok this year, as influencers share the process of picking the items out for the child. Many viewers remark that the Angel Tree videos feel like a more ethical way to enjoy “shopping haul” videos during the holiday season.
“It’s a huge trend on social media for people to do Angel Tree videos,” Brown says. “I did one.” He also notes that Austin, Texas, has a large community of influencers.
At first, he recalls smiling to himself and thinking, “What a nice trend.” However, Brown suspects that the TikTokers he spotted jumped on the trend to get views, without following through on the charitable donation.
“They left their cart at the end of the aisle,” he says. “I didn’t blink twice. People leave their carts to go grab something all the time.”
Then, he walks by the cart left in the same place 10 minutes later.
“That’s when I noticed that they filmed themselves doing an Angel Tree video and then ditched it and didn’t follow through,” he says.
Brown explains that he walked up to the cart to find the Angel Tree card, planning to purchase and donate the items himself. However, he realizes that the two TikTokers didn’t leave the Angel Tree card.
“Now I’m sat here thinking there’s a kid out there, some underprivileged kid, who’s not going to get what they asked for because these two vapid creatures decided they were too selfish,” Brown laments.
He wonders if the whole video was staged and “there was no Angel Tree card to begin with.”
“Let’s hope that’s the case,” he remarks.
Brown shares that the TikTokers had long, straight brown hair, and the girl filming wears turtle-shell glasses.
@yourbestiemisha Still grateful for all of the people who really are helping! ?
♬ original sound – yourbestiemisha
How did viewers react?
Brown’s video quickly sent viewers on a manhunt to try to track down the TikTokers who filmed the fake Angel Tree video. While they pointed to several Angel Tree vlog duos, Brown clarifies in the comments that none of the tagged creators are the women he spotted at the Austin, Texas, Walmart.
In the comments, viewers call out the women who presumably faked an Angel Tree video.
“That was my fear when I started seeing more people doing Angel Tree gifts on Tik Tok that some of them wouldn’t follow through and they were just doing it for the clout,” one writes.
Another exclaims, “THEY COULDN’T EVEN PUT THE STUFF BACK??”
“That is so sad, whether it was staged or whether they took the card home with them. That is just so sad. Makes me angry. I really hope that somehow that child will still have a good Christmas,” a third says.
Other former Angel Tree recipients react to Brown’s discovery, too.
“This is heartbreaking! I remember being a single mom and needing help from the angel tree for my kids. It saved Christmas for my babies that year,” a commenter shares.
“Former angel tree kid who got nothing one year we signed up, my brother did but I got used dirty clothes instead. IF YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO BE EXTRA GENEROUS TO KIDS WHO ALREADY HAVE NOTHING, DON’T TOUCH THOSE F— TAGS!!!” a second comments.
The Mary Sue reached out to Brown via email and to Walmart and the Salvation Army via contact form for further comment.
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