Viral video shows bar patron nabbing Guinness beer mat from Australian hotel, internet reacts
Viral video shows bar patron nabbing Guinness beer mat from Australian hotel, internet reacts
Will Conybeare Tue, August 11, 2026 at 4:36 PM UTC
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An Australian hotel’s post calling out a pubgoer who stole a Guinness beer mat from their bar went viral this week, and social media users had some interesting reactions.
Irish Club Hotel in Toowomba, Queensland, shared footage of a man at the hotel bar using his thumb to ensure the beer mat wasn't stuck to the bar top before removing it and slinking out while the bartender’s back was turned.
The hotel’s Instagram post, which garnered over 500,000 likes in 24 hours (their previous post got just 22 in the same timespan), had a tongue-in-cheek response that referenced Warner Bros.’ anti-piracy campaign from the 2000s.
“You wouldn’t steal a car. You wouldn’t steal a handbag. Stealing our ONLY Guinness bar mat. IT’S A CRIME,” the post reads. “How will people know we sell Guinness?”
Bar patron nabs Guinness beer mat from Australian hotel. Aug. 2026. (Irish Club Hotel via Storyful)
Bar patron nabs Guinness beer mat from Australian hotel. Aug. 2026. (Irish Club Hotel via Storyful)
Many Instagram users, believe it or not, actually took the man’s side, with some joking that if the pint costed more than $10-$15, then stealing the beer mat was not the problem – rather, the prices were.
One of the most-liked comments (nearly 488,000 as of publication) quipped “Day one of making my own bar.”
Another comment that received over 33,000 likes read “F--king class pure class not many can pull that s--t off.”
One user admitted to a similar theft while they were intoxicated: “I woke up after blacking out once and had done this,” they said.
Yet another comment: “Stealing from bars doesn’t count.”
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Still, some took the side of the bar, with many pointing out that beer mats typically sell for less than $20 online.
“I've stolen so much s--t from bars when I was a kid, but that dudes too old for this s--t, they got Amazon now go buy one for $10,” one user said.
“They sell these on eBay btw for under $20,” added another.
At the end of the day, one user might have summed it up the best.
“It’s not about $15 all [that] he needed was some adrenaline and fun,” they commented.
As of Tuesday morning, there was no indication that the perpetrator had been identified or the mat returned.
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Source: “AOL Breaking”
