Goodwill sells Olive Garden to-go containers

A person who appeared to be doing awareness raising while shopping at Goodwill discovered that among the donated goods was a take-out container for sale of Olive Garden.

The video is from creator @brianaautumnwilson and has generated more than 1.3 million views since it was posted to the platform on March 31st.

The video pans the shelves in what looks like a Goodwill store, and the narrator says, “Well, I’m walking around Goodwill,” before stopping at a shelf that has some kitchen supplies on it. The narrator then stops to pick up a black container that might look familiar to diners at a particular restaurant chain.

The narrator turns it over in camera view and shows the underside. “This is an Olive Garden to-go container,” she guesses, displaying a $1.01 goodwill sticker.

@brianaautumnwilson Goodwill knows they’re dead wrong about that 🤣🤣👏 #goodwill #ridiculous #free #OG #breadsticks #wrong #fail #togo ♬ It’s called: Freefall (Speed ​​Up) – Rainbow Kitten Surprise

The creator’s caption reads, “Goodwill knows they’re dead wrong about this,” to show how she really felt.

According to the Goodwill website, the nonprofit operates a number of stores across the US based on this concept: “When you donate your new and gently used items, local Goodwill organizations sell them in stores and online, generating revenue to raise valuable.” To provide employment training and job placement services for people in your community.”

So…does an Olive Garden container that presumably contained Olive Garden leftovers constitute a “gently used” item?

Commentators commented on the find.

“This is a bargain!!” a person cracked. “I usually just order Olive Garden and toss the food in the container.”

Another, who claimed to have inside information, said: “As a Goodwill employee, I’m not surprised. They tell us to sort everything and they mean everything.”

“Goodwill is spiraling out of control,” said one person.

But another theorized they wouldn’t actually sell them, offering: “They’re doing this so they can write it off. They don’t sell it and throw it away, but they still get written off.”

And another person chimed in, rating them as really valuable, saying, “I mean, they’re microwaveable and dishwasher safe. It’s essentially Tupperware.” (This sparked a brief exchange about whether they’re actually safe to put in the microwave or dishwasher. They’re generally considered microwaveable.)

The episode led to other anecdotes about strange items being sold at Goodwill and even other stores in this vague universe. “Once at Savers,” one commenter began, “they had USPS Priority Mailboxes (which you get free) for about $2 to $4 apiece.”

Finally, one person mentioned that the video could use the “You’re joking” sound that’s been doing the rounds on TikTok.

The author commits to the comic effect.

The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator and Goodwill for comment.