Woman's free takeaway ‘hack' to score more food divides
A woman has stirred up controversy after sharing her 'hack' to score larger portions when getting takeaway food – and it all comes down to channelling your inner man.
In her initial video, Emily Joy Lemus, 26, proposed a theory: that using a man's name when ordering might lead to more generous portions.
Throughout the following three videos, she conducted an investigation with a sample size of precisely one to support her theory, and while it seems to check out, it left her followers, both men and women, mad.
Things took a turn when she brought out the kitchen scales, attempting to prove her point, but somehow doing the opposite.
The takeaway 'hack'
Let's start at the beginning.
'I once heard somebody mention that if you put a man's name on your Chipotle order, they will actually give you decent portion sizes,' Ms Lemus began the clip, showing off 'Ryan's' order of a chicken and black bean rice bowl.
'Guys, she's full,' she exclaimed.
'She's overflowing. My little old name could never. This is both amazing and incredibly maddening.'
And who doesn't like to get a 'lil extra somethin something when ravenous for some UberEats, huh? So naturally, the video went gangbusters, racking up over 2.3 million likes.
Comments ranged from 'This is genius' to 'Brilliant!' and hundreds of viewers vowed to try out the trick next time they order delivery.
However, others were less convinced, urging the TikTok detective to take her research more seriously and order one bowl with a man's name and one with a woman's name to show the comparison side-by-side.
And she obliged.
The experiment continued
In her second video, she ordered two identical bowls, one for 'Emily Joy' and one for 'Andrew'.
Right off the bat, she noted that the woman's order 'feels decent' but wasn't 'as heavy as the one with a man's name on it'.
Andrew's order was indeed visibly bulkier, again supporting her theory.
She also noticed there was way more salad on the woman's order.
'This makes me really mad,' she sighed.
Time to get numerical
But her confirmation bias did not go unchecked by commenters, who told her it was time to whip out the food scales and settle this debate once and for all, which she did.
In video three, the scales came out, so you would think that the legitimacy of the study would finally be granted.
However, she messed up when deciding to use the name 'Tom Holland' for the man's order, which obviously would influence any Chipotle worker's generosity.
She was seemingly unaware of this flaw and continued to smugly show her followers that the woman's order weighed 685 grams and the man's – Spiderman's – was 714 grams.
'The proof is in the pudding, you guys!' she declares, as though she's just cracked a new iteration of gender bias in the world (to be honest, she kind of has, but her execution was questionable).
Commenters hit back
People agreed that her 'ah-hah' moment didn't land how she thought it would.
'Less than five per cent variance? Very doubtful it's intentional,' someone replied.
'I feel like this is a very acceptable margin of error,' another said.
Ms Lemus was determined to prove her point. So in her final video, after filming one more side-by-side comparison where 'Amelia's' order weighed 682 grams and 'Alex's' 690 grams, she acknowledged, 'I know it's not even 10 grams, but I think it gets me that it's always the guys' that are heavier.
'Even if it's a small amount, it's always the guys' that weigh more. I just think that's ridiculous'.
As one commenter aptly pointed out, 'This is definitely an issue; however, I think you posting about cases that have such small differences discredits it in the eyes of a lot of people'.
So, is this actually a thing?
While there's no actual data that backs up her claims, there are plenty more anecdotal reports across the internet of this sort of thing happening.
One person even said that changing her name to a male's on delivery apps had more benefits than just getting more food.
She used to frequently receive order notes and substitutions, but after changing her name to 'John', this stopped entirely.
Delivery drivers also no longer ask 'Is this your home?' when dropping off her order.
The woman also received fewer knocks on her door, and the drivers simply left the orders on the doorstep.
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