2016 Prime Gail Lewis

About

2016 Prime Gail Lewis refers to a viral video of the former Walmart employee Gail Lewis, who shared her story about working for 10 years at the store. The video inspired a series of jokes and an ironic fandom was created on TikTok imagining how Lewis would deal with customers in her prime, in 2016.

Origin

On November 16th, 2023, TikTok^[1] user @fluffygaileena uploaded a video saying goodbye to her post at the Walmart located in Morris, Illinois. Gail Lewis, who worked for 10 years at the store, was overcome with feelings as she said farewell to fellow employees. The video (shown below) garnered over 24 million plays and 3 million likes in a week.

Spread

Lewis' farewell video inspired a series of ironic memes on TikTok in which people imagined how the Walmart employee used to work at her prime back in 2016. For instance, on November 25th, 2023, TIkTok^[2] user @bigfreezies posted a video of a football tackle paired with the overlay text "POV: you tried steal from Walmart in 2016 but prime Gail Lewis is working her shift." The video (shown below, left) amassed more than 10 million plays and 1.5 million likes in three days. On November 23rd, 2023, TikTok^[3] user @vincentsview252 uploaded a "world reaction" after Lewis announced she was leaving Walmart. The video (shown below, right) received roughly 14 million plays and 2 million likes in five days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References