Here are a few things the guy in this video, entitled “We Stole Tampons From the Cashier-less Amazon Go Store,” does not actually do. He does not steal anything. And he does not walk out with a box of tampons. Instead, he picks up a box of pads — which he repeatedly refers to as tampons until about three-quarters of the way through the video — while shopping in Amazon’s new flagship, cashierless store in Seattle. He attempts to trick the system by setting the box of pads down in a different spot and then picking it up again — items are tagged and monitored using computer vision, sensor fusion, and so-called “deep learning,” and also a ton of cameras on the store’s ceiling — which didn’t work. (Earlier this month, a CNBC tech reporter managed to trick the system and accidentally stole a yogurt from the store.) When he left the store, his credit card was charged for the pads.
“Picture this, your SO’s got a feminine-hygiene emergency and cannot leave the house to get her own bio-waste-management products. So it’s on you,” our feminist hero says at the beginning of the video. “But you do not feel like going to the local grocery store and listening to the cashier making that stale joke about your ‘Aunt Flo.’” Truly shocking that a man who uses phrases like “bio-waste-management products” didn’t know the difference between a box of tampons and a box of pads.