The old saying ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ has never been more true in this social experiment video that was shared to YouTube on Thursday.
In a three-minute video, YouTuber Coby Persin, 23, of New York City decided to put the age old phrase to the test by disguising himself as a homeless person and asking to be seated at a restaurant.
The clip, which appeared to be filmed in Florida, has gotten more than 110,000 views and 10,000 likes and was shared to Coby’s YouTube channel that has more than three million subscribers.
Too expensive: YouTuber Coby Persin disguised himself as a homeless person as part of a social experiment
The video started with Coby as he walked up the restaurant while holding a trash bag, wearing a ripped pants and a skully cap.
Once he arrived he asked the host for a table for him and his friend Ronaldo.
He said: ‘Hi how are you? I would like to get a table for me and my friend Ronaldo – to see the menu maybe.’
But the host, whose faced was muzzed out, said that he would be unable to seat him because the restaurant was ‘too expensive’.
He said: ‘I’m sorry. We’re not going to be able to do it sir. This place is a little too expensive for you.’
But Coby decided to give the restaurant host a chance to redeem himself and asked if there was a menu he could see.
No service: When he arrived at the restaurant, the host refused to seat him
Get away: The host asked Coby to ‘please get away’ even though he was just standing there
Leave: When he started dialing his friend, Ronaldo, the host told him to get off the property
‘Nope,’ the host said. ‘We can’t serve you, we’re not going to serve you today. I’m sorry about that.’
And even when Coby tried to tell him he had a lot of money, the host still refused to serve him and said: ‘Can you please get away? Go eat at McDonald’s – some other options but not here.’
Coby then backed away from the restaurant and can was heard uttering a ‘wow’ as he dialed his driver Ronaldo.
But as he started dialing, the host asked if he could make the call off the restaurant’s property.
‘Can you please get away,’ the host asked again. ‘Stand over there.’
But the host was in for quite the surprise because Ronaldo drove up to the restaurant in a Rolls Royce with a suitcase of cash in the trunk.
Ronaldo then handed the suitcase to Coby who showed it to the host.
Arriving in style: Coby’s driver, Ronaldo, arrived to the restaurant in a white Rolls Royce
Get the cash: Coby asked Ronaldo, if he could grab the briefcase that was in the trunk of the Rolls Royce
Car full of cash: Ronaldo gets the briefcase full of cash from the trunk and hand it to Coby
‘I have money’: After he turns him away, Coby shows the host the money-filled briefcase
Coby said: ‘I told you I had money. What’s crazy is the way you judged people just by there appearance. I might buy this spot just I can fire you – you’re lucky.’
Ronaldo and Coby then head to the ‘steak spot down the street’ leaving the host speechless and ashamed.
This isn’t the first social experiment video, Coby has done. One of his most recent ones involved the vlogger planting trees in New York City pot holes.
He came up with the green-thumbed idea after he himself hit a pot hole and ruined the tire of his car.
He said: ‘When I was driving around New York City, I hit a pot hole and my tire popped and I had to buy a new one.’
‘So I was thinking to myself, how as New Yorkers can we avoid these pot holes? Had I seen a plant inside the pot hole, I would have drove around the plant and not hit the pot hole.’
He added: ‘So I’m going around with different sized plants and putting them in different sized pot holes so New Yorkers avoid them.’