TikTok wakes up to Wakey Wakey farce and lifts ban

Wakefield off-licence Wakey Wakey, whose owner claimed to have been booted off TikTok for advertising limited-edition Prime energy drinks for £100 a pop, has reportedly had its account reinstated but not before receiving nationwide media coverage.

The outlet, owned by Mohammad Azar Nazir, has become something of a viral sensation, with customers reportedly travelling miles across the country to purchase the energy drinks and the shop’s range of sweets.

The Prime energy drinks range, founded by YouTubers Logan Paul and KSI as Prime Hydration, has been in huge demand for weeks, leading Wakey Wines to start advertising bottles for £100 each on its TikTok page.

In a move which is thought to have sparked the ban, KSI responded on its own TikTok page, showing a video where a customer appeared to be buying 12 packs of Prime drinks for £1,200, saying: “He can’t keep getting away with this. Stop buying it at these prices.”

In a statement posted on the Wakey Wines Instagram account on Sunday, Nazir said he had been banned from TikTok and accused influencers of trying to “tarnish his business”.

The statement continued: “I’ve been working so hard for all of this. All of my videos are all for fun, I saw a business idea with WFD sweets just like any other business man and I took the opportunity.”

But now, according to The Grocer magazine, TikTok has performed a major U-turn and reinstated the business after admitting that the removal of the account for violating its community guidelines had been a mistake.

Nazir has yet to comment on the change of heart, although with the mass coverage his shop has received over the past 48 hours he might just be too busy counting his free media impressions.