amazon He would have sold his employees’ urine packaged in energy drink bottles. The e-commerce giant was a victim of his labor policies by offer pee from their delivery men, who are forced to urinate in plastic containers so as not to deviate from their route. The drink reached first place in its category, although it was all part of a publicity stunt.
Urine bottles were created to The Great Amazon Heist, a documentary that exposes the reality of working for the company. Oobah Butler, British journalist and director, produced Release, a lemon-flavored energy drink. The bottle has the necessary elements to go unnoticed, although some give a clue to its contents, such as the phrase “discharges energy.”
In accordance with WiredButler collected the bottles that employees throw away in the vicinity of delivery centers. The director of the documentary searched for the material in warehouses in the United Kingdom and the United States. Subsequently, he filled the Release containers with pee and He put them on sale in the Amazon catalogsomething that was “surprisingly easy.”
“I thought the food and beverage license would prevent me from listing it, so I started in this category of refillable pump dispensers,” Butler said in an interview. It didn’t take long for the algorithm to transfer it to the beverage category and a representative of the company contacted him to offer the logistics service from Amazon, which is responsible for packaging and shipping products.
Although the bottles with urine appeared in the Amazon catalog, none were sold to the public. Butler asked some of his friends to buy the product to test his theory and made sure that no other people received the Release containers.
Urine bottles expose the reality of working as a delivery driver
To film the documentary The Great Amazon Heist, Oobah Butler infiltrated a UK distribution center with her hidden camera. The Amazon employees discussed the problems they face daily, such as the lack of air conditioning in unventilated areas or constant surveillance. Strict policies prevent workers from taking bathroom breaks.
In the case of bottles with pee, Delivery drivers express that they are penalized for slow deliveries, so they are forced to urinate in plastic containers. This problem became public since March 2021, when employees confessed that they relieve themselves inside the van.
Amazon delivery drivers They work 10-hour days and deliver up to 300 packages a day. A report of motherboard He explained that their superiors pressure them to complete the route before their shift ends, otherwise they will receive cumulative sanctions or possible dismissal. The employees They prefer to urinate in plastic bottles so as not to stray from the path and they throw them away before returning to the distribution center.
Amazon denies that its employees suffer
Amazon denied that its employees suffer these types of conditions. “You don’t really believe in peeing in bottles, do you? “If that were true, no one would work for us,” the company said in one of its X accounts (Twitter). “The truth is, we have over a million incredible employees around the world who are proud of what they do and have great pay and healthcare from day one,” she stated.
Regarding pee-laced energy drink bottles, James Drummond, an Amazon spokesperson, He described the action as a “crude trick.”. According to Drummond, the company has “industry-leading tools” to prevent unsafe content from being included in its catalog.