Walmart shopper buys watermelon that 'smelled really good' — then notices something quite odd

It's natural to find products at big retail chains such as Walmart and Costco that appear fresh and smell good. But aesthetics and fragrances can be deceptive, as one Walmart shopper learned the hard way. A TikTok user, going by the ID @user7421262716379, picked up a watermelon that gave out a fresh aroma, but was alarmed after finding something plastic-like inside the fruit. The shopper posted a video about it, which went viral and added to the growing concern over the quality of produce sold at one of America’s biggest retailers.

For the Walmart customer, excitement turned to confusion when he cut into the fruit. “It smelled really good. Bought it from Walmart, cut it open, and it was, like, plastic,” he explained in a now-viral video. The taste, according to him, was equally disappointing, or “horrible,” in his words. Hoping to discard the tasteless fruit in a way that nature could handle, he tossed it outside, expecting it to rot or at least attract wildlife. 

However, that’s when things got even stranger. A week later, the fruit was still lying there, untouched. In the video, the user returned to find the watermelon eerily appearing to be the same as he had left it days before. “I threw this watermelon out over a week ago… It looks like mud! What’s going on?” he asked. He was baffled that the fruit was simply not decomposing. The pink shreds lying in the dirt remained mostly intact. Viewers were quick to react to the strange sight, with user @lacylacylac commenting, “The fact that there’s no bugs eating that says a lot too.” Another user @carag503 added “It looks legit like cut up stew meat.” 

Even chickens, known for pecking at nearly anything, apparently walked away from the fruit. “I give my chickens watermelon every year! This year it sat outside, and they walked away!” @tessawilson11 exclaimed.

This wasn’t an isolated incident, as another viral TikTok video by user Gabriela (@gabrielanailsnmakeup) showed her struggling to wash a Walmart watermelon, only to watch the dark green outer skin peel off like plastic. Underneath it, she found a lighter green layer, making her and thousands of viewers question whether the fruit was real or somehow altered. “Has this happened to anyone else?” she asked.

The video garnered more than 13 million views and a flood of concerned comments from viewers who had either experienced similar incidents or were stunned by the footage. Even more skepticism was added when another TikTok user, Robin (@rockitrobin_), posted a video pointing out an oddly shaped watermelon at Walmart that appeared folded in on itself, almost as if it had collapsed.

She warned her audience to avoid Walmart’s watermelons altogether. Some users theorized that the watermelons might have been frozen in transit and then thawed before sale, causing the texture and appearance to change. In response to Gabriela’s viral video, Melon1, the farm that supplied Walmart with the fruit, responded with a plausible explanation. A representative explained to RetailWire that if a watermelon is frozen during shipping or placed in a refrigerator that’s too cold, the skin can peel off once it returns to room temperature. This perfectly explained what happened to Gabriela’s watermelon.

To test the theory, Gabriela bought another watermelon, froze half of it, and left the other half untouched. Her follow-up video proved that the frozen half peeled exactly the same way. Despite this logical explanation, the incident has fueled a larger conversation about Walmart’s produce standards.

For more updates and videos, follow @user7421262716379 on TikTok.