How a Dollar General Employee Went Viral on TikTok
It’s no secret that many consumers have an issue with Amazon and its relentless push to use AI to figure out what you might want to buy. Now, a TikTok star has found his voice and is on a mission to prove people wrong.
As a Dollar General employee, Austin DeHass was known for taking selfies and posting them to his personal feed, and as a teenager, he was even given a $1,000 raise.
But, this week, the man known as Austin the Star went viral on TikTok as he called out his company for being out of touch with the younger generation.
As DeHass was explaining in one of his many TikToks, he believes Dollar General employees should focus on “truly important” things, like “making people’s lives better.”
The TikTok star went on to point out that while Dollar General employees have “the biggest hearts,” they should be spending their days instead “doing things like shopping at Walmart and trying to feed themselves.”
The viral sensation continued to point out that with the coronavirus pandemic impacting consumers and people’s health, his company had a responsibility to put its money on the backs of its employees instead of the stock market.
It’s not clear how, exactly, DeHass’s TikTok gained traction with over two million views in just 10 days. But it did reach close to 3 million YouTube subscribers and has now been viewed over 12 million times.
This Is Not a Laughing Matter
Since DeHass posted his TikTok video on March 19, he’s been followed on Twitter and Instagram by millions of people. In fact, within two days of his video going viral, he had amassed more than seven million views on Instagram alone and more than six million views on Twitter.
Although DeHass says he’s simply “taking a stand” against his employer, his video came at a time when businesses across the country have found themselves reeling under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic — and it’s not clear whether DeHass is the first to complain about the way his company treats its workers