Amazon Allowed Prankster To Sell Bottles Of Urine As Energy Drink: Documentary

A filmmaker and prankster claimed that he collected discarded bottles of Amazon drivers’ urine and sold them on the e-commerce platform as an energy drink, according to a Channel 4 documentary. The product, titled ‘Release’, emerged as the top-selling in the “Bitter Lemon” category of Amazon but the prankster said he never sold it to any real customers.

The documentary, titled “The Great Amazon Heist”, was made by Oobah Butler, who said he wanted to expose the company’s impact on society, including its workers who stated that they were forced to urinate in bottles to meet strict deadlines. He spoke to some workers who confirmed that they would urinate in bottles while delivering packages for the e-commerce site.

Butler said that he collected the urine bottles from near Amazon fulfilment centres and then repackaged them and marketed them as a yellow-coloured drink. He said that it was “surprisingly easy” to get the product listed on the site, as reported by WIRED.

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He said he also got some of his friends to buy the product but felt “scared” when real people started trying to buy it. He also claimed that Amazon's algorithm moved the product into its drinks category on the site after he had put it in the "Refillable Pump Dispense" category. 

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Amazon reacted to the story by saying that it was a “crude stunt” and that the company has “industry-leading tools to prevent genuinely unsafe products being listed”. A spokesperson said that no “genuine customer” bought the product and that the safety of customers is a top priority for Amazon.