Woman goes viral after hiding cash inside baby formula packets in divisive trend

A woman has gone viral after filming herself secretly hiding cash inside baby formula packets at supermarkets.

TikTok creator Tabitha Swatosh is just one of the influencers who have gone viral after taking part in the divisive viral online trend called “She deserved the purse”, which sees big-name creators secretly hide cash inside baby products in the hope that struggling parents will find it.

In a recent video, Swatosh filmed herself visiting her local Target and stuffing up to $50 inside packaging for items like nappies, detergent and formula.

Swatosh said online she wanted to “pay it forward” and “leave a couple of little things” in her local grocery store in the hope that a “mother or father who are struggling right now gets them”.

While creators taking part in the trend have been praised for their “heartwarming” acts of kindness, the trend has been widely criticised after reports of people visiting the stores identified in the videos in search of the hidden money.

One TikTok user said online they had visited their local Walmart and “formula cans were literally torn open”. The Independent has contacted Walmart and other supermarkets pictured in these videos for comment.

“Went to Walmart today and ALL of the boxes were open. I asked for an unopened box from the back. The worker said they have been watching the cameras on who has been opening stuff and not buying it.”

Another person wrote online: “I literally comment this on every ‘She Deserved the Purse’ post. The thought is nice, but there are too many people out there who will take advantage of it.”

Others have been critical of influencers who document their acts of kindness for likes or “clout”.

“If people wouldn’t have posted on TikTok for the clout, it would have worked,” they said of the trend. “But these people need others to see them ‘helping.’”

Another chimed: “That’s why its good to do good deeds quietly.”

“The trend was a good idea until big creators started posting about it for clout. Integrity is doing the right thing when no one’s watching.”

The “She deserved the purse” trend began with a viral photo shared by TikTok user Danesha Gonzalez, which showed a discarded purse in a supermarket’s baby section.

Gonzalez captioned it “she deserved the purse” to point towards that sacrifices that mothers make for their children, and people interpreted the storyline behind the picture as being about a mother who sacrificed a luxury for herself – a new purse – for her child. The photo gained over 20 million views and has been turned into the wider video trend.

Speaking online, Swatosh told her followers that she was inspired to take part in the trend to help parents in need of extra support.

“I felt inspired to do this because when I was little my parents divorced. They were single young parents trying to raise three kids and my little brother wasn’t even one year’s old yet,” she said.

Creator Abbie Herbert, who has 15.6 million followers on the platform, told followers she visited Walmart and other stores after seeing influencers doing the same.

“Thank u to all the other creators starting this trend. I’ll be doing this every time I shop,” she said, sharing a video of her hiding cash underneath boxes of nappies.

When followers raised the issue of people rifling through packaging to find the cash, she wrote: “I kept the $ visibly seen. Nothing was hidden. No one needs to open anything. I hope the $ makes it to a parent in need.”