This story was one of the top-performing stories for Herald Lifestyle in 2020
It's become a sure fire way to get viral success — hop on TikTok, share some behind-the-scenes tips from your popular workplace and watch as the video racks up hundreds of thousands of views.
Videos from McDonald's, Woolies and Kmart workers have gone viral with employees revealing tricks like how to successfully get a discount, or their favourite products people don't know about.
But one viral TikTok star has claimed she was fired from her fast food job after a video of her revealing "tips" for customers got millions of views.
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Advertise with NZME.19-year-old TikTok user @anasteeezy, first name Ana, was elated when a video she shared about Chick-Fil-A, a fast food fried chicken chain in the United States, got more than 2.6 million views.
"So I work at Chick-Fil-A and I'm here to give you all the tips and tricks on secret menu items, how to get things cheaper," Ana said in the video.
In the short clip she shared how to get a bigger Mango Passion tea for less money by ordering another drink and adding mango syrup to it, sharing pictures of a Chick-Fil-A register screen.
In a follow-up video Ana was in the car and claimed she was "actually on my way to get fired now".
She later explained that she had "finished my day at work and decided it'd be cool to make a Chick-Fil-A video".
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Ana said she had been excited when she went "TikTok famous", but soon began getting "messages and threats from Chick-Fil-A operators and employees trying to get me fired".
Then things got worse, with Ana claiming she "got a call from my boss saying we needed to talk and that I needed to return my uniform".
Ana's firing got plenty of sympathy from her fans, who said they had enjoyed her original video and were looking forward to more tips.
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Advertise with NZME."Do they not realise that these tips can help low-income families and such to afford more food for their buck?" one person wrote, while another added: "Can't believe what they did to you! So unreasonable."
"I still don't know why they would fire you," another commenter fumed. "It's not like it's a big deal, you were just trying to help people out. It's not like they're losing money."
But while people joked that she "took one for the team", others said it wasn't unreasonable for an employer to take action if you reveal work secrets.
"OK they shouldn't do that but honestly what do you guys expect when you're exposing a company on social media," one person wrote.
