A 37-second video of a dad gushing over his Costco savings has been viewed almost 6.3 million times on Twitter, as of Thursday afternoon.
The video tweet was posted Sunday with the caption, "My dad went to Costco for the first time in his life." It has been retweeted almost 74,000 times and liked almost 430,000 times as of Thursday midday.
The man in the video is Tom Musto, 49, who lives in Los Angeles. His son TJ tells CNBC Make It he posted the video of his dad unpacking Costco groceries in the kitchen.
The elder Musto has been dubbed the "hot Costco dad" because of the viral video.
"About being 'hot Costco dad' ...it's a bit overwhelming, I thought this would have died after a day. It's just crazy," Musto tells CNBC Make It by email.
"My kids video me all the time when I don't know it, they think I am funny," Musto says.
My dad went to Costco for the first time in his life
In the video, a voice off-camera asks Musto which items were good deals. Musto excitedly points and says, "the water." Musto lifts up a large bag of what appear to be pistachios, shaking them at someone off-screen, while enthusiastically revealing the price he just paid for said item: "$9!" According to Musto, they'd be about a third more expensive at his local supermarket.
A voice off-camera asks Musto how much his sausages cost. "These sausages were, I think, 8 bucks," Musto says, incredulously.
"Dude, [my friend] Stephany says she is getting me a Costco's card for my birthday," Musto says before walking off camera, sausages under arm.
The heartwarming video gets to the crux of why Costco has won so many loyal fans: the prices. Costco sets aside all other retail niceties at the altar of low prices, according to the company.
"Costco is able to offer lower prices and better values by eliminating virtually all the frills and costs historically associated with conventional wholesalers and retailers, including salespeople, fancy buildings, delivery, billing and accounts receivable," Craig Jelinek, the Company's President, CEO and Director, says on the company's website. "We run a tight operation with extremely low overhead which enables us to pass on dramatic savings to our members."
And Costco certainly has been successful.
Costco first launched in 1976 as Price Club in San Diego, before opening the first warehouse bearing the name "Costco" in Seattle seven years later.
Today, there are 770 Costco warehouses and the company had revenues of $138.4 billion in the 2018 fiscal year. The public company's market cap is almost $106 billion and Costco has 243,000 full and part-time employees.
Still, TJ Musto had to explain to Costco's popularity to his father.
"[My dad] called me when he was there and said, 'TJ, have you ever heard of Costco?'" TJ told Mashable. "I laughed and said 'Yes, Dad, everyone's heard of Costco.'"
For Musto, the attention he's been getting as a result of the viral tweet has been welcome.
"I think it's been good for his confidence," TJ tells CNBC Make It. "[He] thinks the whole situation is crazy but I know he's been enjoying all the stuff being said about him. Even if some of it's weird to me."
See also:
'This Is Us' star Chrissy Metz on her worst credit card fail, why she shops at Costco
10 things you use every day you should always buy at Costco
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