Teens Dress as Mask-Wearing Grannies to Buy Booze in New TikTok ‘Challenge’

(TMU) – We may be in the throes of a deadly global pandemic, but teens are still going to do what they can to buy alcohol.

And while millenials and Gen X’ers relied on fake IDs, older friends or “shoulder-tapping” to score booze, Generation Z youth are using coronavirus face masks to pretend that they are elderly grandmothers and trick unsuspecting liquor stores into selling them alcohol, reports New York Post.

“Now that we have to wear masks, this is the best time to buy alcohol with a fake ID since the early 80’s,” comedian Jason Lawhead wrote in a Tweet.

It’s now become the latest trend on the Gen-Z-dominated social media platform TikTok, where kids in viral videos are donning everything from babushka scarves to walking aids in a bid to score some booze. And judging by the millions of views they’re racking up – and the bottles they’re joyously dancing with – they seem to have struck gold.

And while underage drinking and the culture of binge-drinking in general shouldn’t be condoned, we can’t help but salute the valiant efforts of today’s kids.

“I hope lots of teens are out there illegally buying alcohol with face masks on, confidently not looking at all like their fake ID,” user @dannyfailure wrote.

In one TikTok video that already has 1.5 million views, a blond girl can be seen applying “wrinkles” to her face with the assistance of makeup. The teen can then be seen using a walker to straggle through a parking lot, bottle in hand, as she’s clad in a frumpy sweater, khaki pants, wire-rimmed glasses and a facial covering.

Calling the incident a “prank,” the TikToker explained that the exploit took place in California. She explained that she “tried to talk as little as possible but she was like a little croaky” – and apparently the prank was a success, because not only was she not asked to show her identification but the liquor store owner was even “worried she wouldn’t b[e] able to carry [the bottles] herself.”

In another video that’s racked up millions of views, a teen girl can be seen sporting a gray wig, glasses, and a less-than-convincing Halloween mask. However, once she dons her full get up – including her surgical mask – the octogenarian disguise suddenly works. In the clip, the girl can be seen coming back from the supermarket with cans of Four Loko and she and her friends dance.

And in one of the best examples of the viral prank, a brunette teen sporting a babushka headscarf and gaudy costume jewelry can be seen walking into a wine shop before she later twerks on the side of the road while happily clutching bottles of wine.

Another video shows a blonde girl accompanying her “granny” at a convenience store. The blonde girl wonders if the sign reading “No ID, no purchase” will actually be enforced and expresses doubts about whether her friend clad in the granny costume will succeed.

“Oh, my God, it worked!” the blonde girl later exclaims says as she and her friend return to the car with a 1.5-liter bottle of vodka.