Those of you who routinely tune into the TikTok station on your portable cellular HAM radio-TVs may have — a video of someone doing something absolutely improbable and idiotic. For that very reason, the video has been blowing up over the past couple days, racking up millions of views. The video shows a woman washing a Toyota Highlander with what looks to be gasoline from a gas pump. Maybe you are not surprised to hear that I don’t think this is real.

If you’ve not seen the video, here it is on a YouTube feed:

OK, so let’s just look at what’s going on here. Yes, the warmly clad woman driving the Toyota with Minnesota plates does appear to be at a gas station, and she is holding what looks like a gas pump nozzle that’s connected to a hose that’s connected to a pump. And she does seem to be liberally dousing her car with a liquid, presumably gasoline.

But let’s look at the situation a little more closely:

Look how long and thin that gas hose is. Have you ever been to a gas station where the pump hose was that long, so long that when you’re close to the pump the hose lies there in coils on the ground? I sure haven’t.

Next, the fluid coming out looks pretty colorless and clear; gasoline tends to have a distinct yellowish cast to it.

And, perhaps more important, come on. What sort of human, capable of driving a car and dressing themselves in multiple layers like that, would think it makes sense to wash their car with gasoline?

Nobody is confused by this. Nobody is operating under the impression that you should wash your car with gasoline. Or if they do, I’d be surprised they would also be willing to fork over the easy $100 or so it would cost to really get a Highlander clean with $2.50/gallon gas.

What I think is happening here: There’s a water spigot (if you’re in polite company, please say faucet) on the little island with the gas pumps, and someone connected a black water hose and fitted an extra gas-pump head to the end. They then went out and did exactly what you would do if you had such a thing.

Pretend to wash a car with gas, and make a video of it.

It’s a fun little gag, sure, but I’m not buying that it’s actually gas, not even for a second.

Good one, though!

Updated 3/3/22 with new details.