TikTok teens dress up as grandmas and use medical masks to buy booze

Marcus Parekh
Updated ·2 min read
Teenagers have come up with a new, ingenious way to get their hands on alcohol without using a fake ID - @angelinaleavitt/TikTok/TikTok
Teenagers have come up with a new, ingenious way to get their hands on alcohol without using a fake ID - @angelinaleavitt/TikTok/TikTok

When God closes a door he opens a window. Teenagers have lost out on many of life’s experiences due to the coronavirus pandemic, but an enterprising few have at least found a way to get drunk and buy alcohol without the need for a fake ID.

Members of ‘Gen Z’ worldwide are taking advantage of mandatory mask wearing in public to conceal their faces and fool shop assistants in to selling them booze.

Related: New TikTok 'Benadryl challenge' sent 3 teens to the hospital

Some have even gone as far as to disguise themselves as pensioners, wearing granny wigs, makeup and even a fetching cardigan to complete the ensemble. After all, what are the odds a shopkeeper will ask an elderly, vulnerable person to remove their mask in the middle of a pandemic.

And as with all clever ideas among teenagers, the stunt has become a social media phenomenon, particularly on TikTok. Videos teaching kids how to pull off the prank are racking up millions of views.

TikToker @aamandaward specifically advised enterprising teens to keep their masks on while making their purchases: “PSA: use your fakes as much as possible [right now because] if you wear a mask they can’t see your whole face lol.”

One video with over 2m views shows a young woman sporting a grey wig, glasses and a latex, old-person Halloween costume mask. With her medical mask and gloves on, she easily could be mistaken for an innocent octogenarian.

The video shows the young lady emerging from the shop with several containers of booze, before ripping off her mask and dancing with her friends.

A further two million people have watched a video of a brunette girl wearing a head scarf and plastic jewelry emerge from a liquor shop twerking and flaunting her newly acquired bottles of red wine.

Standup comedian Jason Lawhead tweeted: “Now that we have to wear masks, this is the best time to buy alcohol with a fake ID since the early 80s.”

While the practices of illegally purchasing alcohol and underage drinking are not things to be condoned, the teenagers are at least showing their sense of civic responsibility by covering their faces in public.