"I've got an idea for our next social experiment. It…” Brody paused for emphasis, "…may be our best yet."
Cody's head snapped up from his phone. The pause for effect had been effective. Could this idea really be the best one? Their last social experiment, titled "Talking to girls with a French accent," garnered 50,000 views. Their follow-up video, "Talking to girls with an Indian accent," was well on its way to 75k before YouTube took it down for violating community standards.
"What is it?" Cody asked, perplexed.
"Have you seen…" Brody paused for effect, this time less effectively, "…the videos where people give homeless people $100 to help them get back on their feet?"
Cody nodded. He considered those influencers the modern-day Mother Teresas. He was reasonably sure she was famous for something similar.
"Well, instead of giving homeless people money, I'm going to pretend to be homeless and see how people treat me."
Cody dropped his phone. "It's perfect," he stated. "They'll be shocked when they find out you're not homeless."
"Exactly," Brody stated proudly.
Cody couldn't define the word "genius," but he was reasonably sure his best friend Brody fit the criteria.
Two days later, the two men, who were a bit too old to be creating online videos, set out to film their online video. Brody stood in front of Target wearing a dirty white t-shirt and a long shaggy beard they'd purchased at Party City.
"Do you have any money?" Brody asked a lady as she approached the automatic sliding door.
"Sorry, I don't have anything," she said, looking at the ground as she entered the store.
Brody made eye contact with Cody, who was recording the encounter from a van parked across the street in a handicapped space. Brody gave Cody a nod.
Cody kept recording as he scurried across the street. They chased the woman inside.
"Ma'am!" Brody yelled.
The lady turned wide-eyed as the two men approached.
"I'm not actually homeless," Brody proclaimed. "We were filming a social experiment." He waited for her to speak, but she didn't. "Why did you tell a homeless man you don't have money when you're in Target shopping?" Brody let the silence build as he waited for the reply. He looked into the camera with raised eyebrows.
The lady sniffled, stopped, then broke into tears. "I got laid off a month ago and haven't been able to get a job. I'm down to my last fifty dollars. I don't know what I'm going to do. I had to give away my dog because I couldn't take care of him. I'm not sure how I'm going to raise my daughter…This has been the worst week of my life."
Brody watched as the lady began to sob, clutching her face with her hands. He tried his best not to cheer or seem overly excited. He made eye contact with Cody and scrunched his nose. Cody was familiar with the look. His heart rate went from 90 bmp to 110 bmp due to excitement. It meant Brody was improvising.
"How about…" Brody effectively paused for effect, "…we buy your groceries."
Cody nearly dropped the camera. Brody had done it again. This was entertainment at its finest. This was generosity at its finest. This was humanity at its finest.
The lady blinked away tears. She tried to speak but could only manage to mouth the words "thank you." She hugged Brody and then hugged Cody. "This means everything."
Over the next thirty minutes, the three went through every aisle of the grocery section. Cody filmed their shopping spree at 60 frames per second just in case they wanted to incorporate slow-motion shots of food being tossed into the cart.
"I think that's everything," the lady stated after dropping a bag of Blue Heat Takis into the cart. Cody made Brody and the lady hug for a "done with shopping" video clip.
"That's $183.63," stated the 16-year-old Target cashier.
"I left my wallet in the.." Brody started, turning to Cody, "I'll get the next one. I promise."
Cody pulled out his credit card and reached to swipe it.
"Actually, is it ok if I swipe your card for the video?" Brody asked.
Cody filmed Brody swiping his card.
The three made their way outside the automatic doors and stopped where Brody had first talked to the lady.
"It was really nice meeting you." Brody stated, "I also really appreciate you letting us use this for our YouTube page."
The lady was silent momentarily, then looked out towards the parking lot. Cody noticed her raise an eyebrow. He followed her gaze to a Ford Fusion parked in a handicapped spot across from his van.
A short man jumped out of the passenger seat and scurried across the road with a camera.
Cody and Brody's jaws dropped as the lady pulled off her wig, revealing she was a twenty-something-year-old gym bro.
"I'm not actually a woman that gave away her dog and only has $50 to buy groceries for my daughter. We were conducting a social experiment," stated the man they had previously thought to be a woman. "What made you buy groceries for me? Would you have bought these groceries for me if you knew I was a man?"
The cameraman swiveled his camera between Brody, Cody, and the man holding $183.63 of groceries.
"I think so," Cody said softly. "I think we would have."
"Nice!" Stated the gym-bro. "Is it ok if we use this footage for our video?"
Cody and Brody nodded.
Two weeks later, "Social Experiment: tricking influencers pretending to be homeless into thinking I'm a woman in need to see their response" was released on YouTube. It received 200k views in the first two weeks earning the gym-bro $8.91.
Three weeks later, Cody and Brody released a video called "We were part of a Social Experiment; here's what it was like." The video garnered 48k views in the first two weeks, earning them $3.77.
Five months later, Cody took Brody to small claims court because Brody kept using his credit card and never "got him the next time." Five months and three weeks later, Cody and Brody released, "I took my friend to small claims court," breaking 100k views in the first two weeks. They celebrated with a high-five and a gym selfie.