‘What’s going on?’: Sam’s Club shopper demands answers after buying variety pack of Canada Dry Ginger Ale

Imagine cracking open a can of your favorite soda only to hear… nothing. No fizz, no pop, and worst, no satisfaction. Like a scene in "The Lorax", it's just, air. 

And for one for one consumer, she didn’t even need to open the can to understand the discontent that lay ahead. “It’s about 1,2,3—5!” she counts.

Naomi (@naomijei) turned to her TikTok page on Dec. 15 to share with viewers a truly baffling site. After a long day, Naomi took a quick stop to her local Sam’s club where she bought a crate of the beloved soda, Canada Dry.

However, upon arrival into her home, Naomi became shocked by her purchase. Receiving over 101,300 views and 4,137 likes, Naomi explained the phenomenon.

A Canada Dry Ginger Ale variety pack

“So I thought I bought this 36-pack of ginger ale from Sam’s Club, right?” Naomi begins. 

Naomi points to the plastic casing that originally held the drinks as the cans sit in her kitchen sink. The casing held a 36-count variety pack of Canada Dry. 

“And I was cleaning them off to put them in a refrigerator and—What?” Naomi asks. 

She points to the cans as she then proceeds to pick up a can of cranberry ginger ale from the center of the sink.

“Some of these cans [are] empty,” Naomi says. 

After counting over five empty cans, Naomi films herself as she checks every one to see if they are full or not. 

Now this isn’t the first the Daily Dot is hearing about concerns with Canada Dry’s manufacturing. Just earlier this month, one influencer shared their experience after the brand was inconsistent with their use of dye in every can she drank. Similarly, Naomi’s situation raised some questions.

“I think all of these are fine, but what's going on? What?” Naomi questions.

Quickly, Naomi shut off her camera, leaving viewers confused at how on earth this could happen. So after her short 28-second video, Naomi posted a follow-up. 

The follow-up

In the video she responded to the question lingering on everybody’s mind,

“Omg whatttt?” A commenter asked. 

In this video she taps the lids of other cans from the case. This time they aren’t empty but rather, half-full. 

“Girl. Yes,” Naomi responds 

She shakes a can of the classic ginger ale, during which listeners can hear its limited contents slosh around the inside.  

“Do you hear how much room is in there?” Naomi asks. “Like this one is empty too, but it’s fully sealed.” 

Naomi explains, and after checking if maybe there was a leak in the cans, each can look perfectly unopened and untouched.

But why did this happen?

Now it's common practice in soda distribution to leave a small space of air in the cans, because these drinks are carbonated. Containing carbon dioxide, this gas can expand if/when the cans get heated. So, if there is no air gap, oftentimes cans will burst from pressure. 

However, Naomi’s cans had an excess of an air gap, and being near empty, commenters had questions. 

“That is hollow,” one viewer commented jokingly.

“Did you return them? If it’s not a lead; it’s a manufacturing defect,” another asked. 

But Naomi isn’t the first person for this to happen to, both commenters and Reddit users on this thread posted to r/MildlyInteresting shared how actually, this may be more common than you’d expect. 

“Happened to me with Sprite a few times. I contacted them and they sent me a stack of coupons for free Spirit,” one commenter said.

“Back in the 90s I drank a lot of Coke. On three separate occasions I found a completely empty but sealed can,” a Reddit user shared. 

The list of similar occurrences goes on. From empty cans to those filled with soda that had no fizz each person shared their own testimonies of the borderline annoying circumstances. 

So what to do next?

With each story shared, one factor remained the same, and that was the next steps. While many users didn’t share how they dealt with the scenario, many did. And this is what they had to say:

“Send Sam’s a message through live chat and they will replace it or refund you,” one comment summarized. 

The Daily Dot investigated this method, and this TikTok user may be onto something. While contacting the direct soda distributor may be slightly more time-consuming, through simply checking the Sam’s club website, you get directed to a live chat bubble to address any concerns you may have. 

And while Canada Dry’s process is ever so slightly longer, it may be good to reach out to them too, because you never know how many coupons you may get! 

@naomijei Whats going onnnn @canadadry @Sam’s Club ♬ original sound - Naomijeii

The Daily Dot reached out to Naomi (@naomijei) via TikTok comment section and direct message for comment. The Daily Dot reached out to Sam’s Club via email for comment. The Daily Dot reached out to Keurig Dr.Pepper via their press email for comment.

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