In 2024 it feels impossible to guess which videos will go viral, but it turns out what people really want to watch is an employee at a West Midlandschippy.
Internet users are gushing over one staff member from Merchant’s Fish and Chips in Bewdley, Worcestershire, branding her a ‘diva’ and ‘iconic’.
The chippy has been posting short-form videos on TikTok and Instagram for a while, garnering hundreds of thousands of views. But it wasn’t gimmicky videos or trending audios that got the business some 24 million views on one video (and a subsequent 160,000 new followers).
Nope, it was a simple video of 20-year-old Destiny Harolld, pretending to take an order from the man behind the counter.
The video was nothing special in TikTok terms. Destiny, who has worked at the chippy since she was 16 years old, simply took the man’s order, offered him battered haddock and displayed their drink options on the counter.
But people ate it up, complimenting Destiny’s sales tactics. Others found the interaction between the employee and customer amusing, saying they thought the video seemed like an English language test.
One commenter posted: ‘Sounds like a scenario a French student would have to listen and translate for his exam.’
And many were impressed by the sheer politeness of it all: ‘Never hear such politeness and niceness in the United States,’ wrote TikTok user Colin Waterworth.
In response, numerous creators have attempted to recreate the original video. One impression, by Lucia Blayke, has garnered 2 million views.
She made sure to let her followers know that she loves the ‘OG chippy diva’.
‘I think she’s an ICON,’ she wrote in a pinned comment.
The chippy didn’t exactly need the publicity though, having been named as one of Tom Parker Bowles’ ‘ultimate chippies’, and it’s also apparently a favourite of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant.
But it’s still done the trick, as one chef commented on an Instagram video that he’d be willing to fly over from Australia just to give it a try — and he doesn’t even like seafood.
‘I’ve never liked seafood ever,’ wrote Henry Tadevosian. ‘But I’ve never seen fish and chips look so perfect before!! Might need to book a holiday.’
People were also taken by the shop’s battered chips on the menu, which many hadn’t heard of before, and they looked incredibly tasty.
The only downside to the chippy’s current online fame is that there have been some unwanted comments on Destiny’s looks, but owner Antony Akathiotis said they were trying to protect her from any negative consequences of their virality.
‘Destiny is such a lovely, genuine, hardworking girl and we want to support her,’ he said to Dudley News.
‘Destiny and Mitch work really well together, but social media can be a scary business. It does worry me, and we want to make sure we are protecting Destiny.
‘But she’s loving it and she’s doing really well for herself off the back of it.’
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