Retail and service workers are emerging as fresh targets of Meta glasses pranks, with customers filming employees without consent and posting the clips for social media views.

The Verge’s report centers on Toru Hinkle, a Target employee filmed in August by two customers who repeatedly asked the price of a $20 item while wearing Ray-Ban Meta frames. Hinkle called a manager; the men kept antagonizing staff until another customer phoned police and the pair were escorted out.

The confrontation turned into content: a clip of the encounter, reviewed by The Verge, had racked up close to 400,000 views on Instagram and 155,000 on TikTok. After The Verge reached out, Instagram deleted the Hinkle video and shut down the account that posted it.

The report argues workplace filming sharpens the power imbalance between customers and employees, and that public-facing workers have little recourse once footage is online. It lands as Meta’s glasses backlash spreads through schools, workplaces, and venues, even as sales keep climbing.

Source: The Verge