After all these years, Britney Spears is still a trendsetter, even when just making her somewhat notorious Instagram videos.
Spears caused quite a stir a few weeks ago when she filmed herself dancing with what appeared to be two very real, very sharp kitchen knives—a sight fans found so disturbing they called the cops for wellness check. (Sidebar: please never, ever do this.)
It turned out, of course, that the knives weren't real after all. They were rented from a Los Angeles prop shop, and now that shop is seeing soaring business thanks to Spears' free advertising.
And it couldn't have come at a better time.
The prop shop where Britney Spears says she bought the fake knives in her recent dancing video has seen a 50% boost in rental sales.\n\nThe manager tells TMZ that Spears is partially to thank for saving the store which has been struggling during the strikes this year.— Pop Crave (@Pop Crave) 1696165546
The Hand Prop Room in Los Angeles, like so many other businesses tied to the city film and television industry, has been struggling mightily in recent months, given the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that shuttered Hollywood for months.
Thankfully, the WGA reached a deal in September, and SAG-AFTRA is in continued negotiations with the AMPTP, the consortium of producers and streamers, to hopefully bring their strike to an end, too.
But that, of course, doesn't replace the months of lost revenue for businesses like The Hand Prop Room, which has seen skyrocketing profits, particularly for prop knives, which have reportedly gone up by 50% since Spears' video.
Sure, all those parodies may be kind of, you know, mean... but at least they're helping a small business!
@shewwsheww @E! Entertainment we’re available for your next reality show… #britneychallenge #britneyknifedance #britneyspearsfan #trendingvideo
Of course, people on social media have been loving the somewhat happy ending to Spears' knife-dancing story.
brought the nation out of unemployment ruin and now supporting small local businesses? Britney the economic powerhouse that you are!!!— Reed (@Reed) 1696166120
@PopCrave Prop shop manager to Britney :— UmdarTamker (@UmdarTamker) 1696165746
labor solidarity queen. like that's mother.— joanie (@joanie) 1696214289
@PopCrave BRITNEY SPEARS. QUEEN OF THE ECONOMY— ladidai \ud83d\udce3 go to @heyhearusout (@ladidai \ud83d\udce3 go to @heyhearusout) 1696174749
@PopCrave She still has the influence— Ramesh Saxena (@Ramesh Saxena) 1696166132
@PopCrave Haha this is some influence— Mukul (@Mukul) 1696165686
@PopCrave Britney saving lives one day at a time— Serenaelis.eth | DAYDREAM (@Serenaelis.eth | DAYDREAM) 1696166408
@PopCrave Say THANK YOU #BritneySpears !!!!!!!!!— #MindYourBusiness \ud83d\udc36 (@#MindYourBusiness \ud83d\udc36) 1696165653
@PopCrave— T\u0336h\u0336e\u0336S\u0336o\u0336c\u0336i\u0336a\u0336l\u0336T\u0336r\u0336a\u0336u\u0336m\u0336a\u0336 (@T\u0336h\u0336e\u0336S\u0336o\u0336c\u0336i\u0336a\u0336l\u0336T\u0336r\u0336a\u0336u\u0336m\u0336a\u0336) 1696165575
Here's hoping next time Britney's having a good time paying tribute to Shakira we can all just leave her alone and let her have her fun. But, at least this time, it worked out for good. Her impact!