In May and June 2026, a number of social media users spread a rumor of an unusual arrest in Florida. According to these posts, a woman pretended to be an employee of a Tampa Costco and "spent nearly an hour handing out tequila shots in tiny ketchup cups."
For example, one Instagram post (archived) read:
A Florida woman was arrested after allegedly pretending to work at Costco in Tampa and turning the sample station into an impromptu "happy hour" for shoppers.
Authorities say 32-year-old Brianna Keller entered the store dressed in black pants, a red polo, and a take badge reading "Crystal - Beverage Team," then spent nearly an hour handing out tequila shots in tiny ketchup cups beside the snack aisle. She reportedly paired liquors with frozen appetizers, told customers it was "technically a tasting event," and even proposed "bottomless sample Fridays" to management.
Employees grew concerned as customers started applauding her chants like "Weekend mode activated!" and some were seen dancing near mattress displays with condiment cups. The stunt ended when a manager noticed the scene, and Keller was arrested while shouting "WHO'S READY FOR ROUND TWO?" as officers escorted her out. One shopper joked, "I honestly thought Costco was just evolving."
That post was just one of many popular Instagram posts (archived, archived) about this supposedly arrest woman. The story also spread on other platforms such as YouTube (archived) and Facebook (archived).
Snopes readers searched the site and sent emails asking whether the story was real.
The rumor, however, was not real. It was first posted by a social media account that describes its content as satirical. Therefore, we've determined this claim originated as satire.
We first made various Google searches in an attempt to find evidence that the story in the claim, or anything like it, really occurred. However, there was no credible reporting on such an incident in searches for "Brianna keller tampa," "Brianna keller costco" and "tampa costco tequila sample."
There was no arrest record available for a Brianna Keller on the website for the Hillsborough County Sherriff's Office, either. Tampa is located in Hillsborough County, Florida, and there are two Costco locations in the county, including one within Tampa's city limits.
The oldest version of the post available was from The Dude Humor Report (archived), which labeled the content with the hashtags "#satire" and "#FORENTERTAINMENTONLY." The account's description says it posts satire and parody, and that its posts are "fictional created for entertainment purposes only."
While the woman pictured in The Dude Humor Report's post is different from the woman in the other widely shared posts, the text of the other posts are largely copied and rearranged from the Dude Humor Report post. The original post began:
WOMAN DETAINED AFTER TURNING COSTCO SAMPLE STATION INTO "HAPPY HOUR FOR MEMBERS"
TAMPA, FL — A Florida woman was arrested after allegedly pretending to work at Costco and serving tequila shots from tiny ketchup cups to unsuspecting shoppers "to improve customer morale."
Authorities say 32-year-old Brianna Keller entered the store wearing black pants, a red polo, and a fake name badge that simply read:
"Crystal — Beverage Team."Witnesses claim Keller spent nearly an hour handing out tequila samples beside the snack aisle while loudly reminding customers:
"It's technically a tasting event."According to police reports, she paired different liquors with frozen appetizers and allegedly told one elderly shopper:
"This one has notes of lime and poor decisions."
The Dude Humor Report has recently posted similar fictional stories about people being arrested or detained for actions involving samples at Costco. In May, Snopes fact-checked a claim of a woman being arrested for handing out meatball samples at Costco that originated as a Dude Humor Report post.
In a previous email to Snopes, a person associated with The Dude Humor Report identifying themself only as Mel pointed to the satire labels in the account bio and posts' hashtags. The Dude Humor Report also previously told Snopes in an Instagram message that all of its content "is made in house."
For further reading, Snopes has fact-checked several rumors that originated from The Dude Humor Report.
Because the effectiveness of satire is subjective, we use "originated as satire" or "labeled satire" ratings based on creators' description of their work. It's your call on whether you agree.