An influencer has caused a stir on TikTok by tracking what happened to his donated shoes with an AirTag. The surprising journey of his old shoes is now putting the Red Cross in a tight spot.
How did the self-experiment unfold? For many, donating clothes is an act of charity. You throw your old but still wearable clothes into a container and hope to help someone in need. The TikToker @moe.haa put this system to the test – in a rather mundane but clever way.
He hid an Apple AirTag in a pair of shoes, specifically in the sole, and threw them into a container of the Bavarian Red Cross (BRK). What happened next was documented on TikTok: the shoes traveled across Europe, passing through Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia, until they eventually reappeared in a second-hand shop in Bosnia. There, they were displayed for sale – complete with a price tag.
The TikToker subsequently flew to Bosnia to find and buy them with his own eyes. He then confronted the store with his own research, but the staff denied that it was donated goods.
The Red Cross didn’t stay silent for long
What was the response? The video went viral, and the criticism didn’t take long to surface. Many users felt cheated: hadn’t they donated to help those in need in Germany? Why are donations sold – and where does the money go?
The Bavarian Red Cross responded promptly and published their own response video on TikTok.
Only a certain part of the donated clothes would actually be given to those in need for free. The majority is sorted, resold, or recycled – this is necessary to finance social projects, it is stated.
The proceeds from the sales flow into aid projects such as food banks, homeless assistance, or senior work. This is no secret – it is transparently documented on the DRK website. According to the website of the Red Cross, it states:
The DRK collects 70,000 to 80,000 tons of old clothes annually. Of this, only about half is still wearable clothing; the rest can only be used as raw material. 4,000 to 5,000 tons of clothing are given directly to those in need. Considering the still wearable clothing, that is about 10 percent. The rest is sold. Important: These numbers represent the federal average. There can be significant variations in recovery rates from one regional association to another.
The action by @moe.haa demonstrates what social media and superficially short TikToks can achieve today: In just a few seconds, complex processes are highlighted, outrage ignited – but also debates sparked. The original video can no longer be found on the platform. Instead, the content creator has spoken out with a second part and incorporated the context of the BRK (via TikTok).
And while a TikTok video shows how surprisingly far a simple clothing donation can travel, a transparent insight is also causing a stir on Twitch: A streamer revealed how much money she really earns – and how little of it actually ends up with her:28-year-old cries tears, Twitch takes half her money – she works so much
