“The Cat Is out of the Bag”: Woolies Ad for Their Latest Mega Shopping Bags Gets SA Buzzing

• Woolworths launched a competition giving away a giant version of their iconic black shopping bag
• The video showed someone carrying the oversized bag around a shopping mall and up an escalator
• South Africans flooded the comments with jokes and excitement about the mega bag

Woolworths got South Africans talking after launching a competition for a mega-sized version of their popular shopping bag. The retailer posted a video on TikTok on 7 November 2025 with the caption:

"It's time to secure the bag! 🛍️🤭 One lucky winner stands a chance to win our mega shopping bag!"

In the clip, someone walks through a shopping mall carrying an oversized black Woolworths bag with the white logo in the centre. The bag is about a metre long and hangs over the person's shoulder as they walk around different areas of the mall and even go up an escalator.

To enter the competition, followers had to comment on which single Woolies item they would buy repeatedly to fill the bag. Each comment counted as an entry, and the winner would be randomly selected and contacted directly. The giveaway closed on 12 November 2025, and participants had to be following Woolworths on TikTok to qualify.

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Mzansi reacts to the video

Social media users shared their thoughts about the bag on TikTok user @woolworths_sa's clip:

@strolleronus joked:

"The Cat is out of the bag😁😏"

@v_ said:

"Glad your marketing team did not drag their feet 😭"

@ndabukoyesizwe_dlamini commented:

"Nandos would've killed this moment 😏"

@terry_godana gushed:

"I'm going to Woolworths just for the bag."

@user33746950570936 added:

"😆😆😆Please don't even think about increasing the price of that bag."

@kgotso_m_mokhemise_snr laughed:

"🥺There's no such thing as bad publicity 🤣🤣🤣"

@nthabiseng_matlala joked:

"Let me go to Woolworths and get me some money bags😞😭🤣"

Woolworths' reusable bag initiative

The mega bag competition is part of Woolworths’ bigger plan to be more sustainable. According to the Woolies website, they’ve been testing reusable shopping bag collections and added recycling vending machines in some stores.

The goal is to help customers use fewer single-use plastic bags. Now, 240 Woolworths stores don’t use single-use plastic bags at all, which means more people want reusable bags. When reusable bags get old or damaged, Woolworths works with a local recycler to turn them into black storage pallets used in their supply chain.

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Customers can give back their old reusable bags at checkout in selected stores. Cashiers collect them, and the bags are sent back through Woolworths’ system to be sorted and sent to recyclers.

Watch the TikTok clip below:

3 Other stories about Woolworths shopping

• Briefly News recently reported on a woman who plugged SA with Woolworths specials, sparking a shopping frenzy.
• A man crashed out over a slow-cooked chicken pie from Woolies, questioning if they work for the ANC because of the high price.
• A man rocked a DIY Woolworths bag outfit after Vusi "Cat" Matlala's viral money bag moment.

Source: Briefly News