Ben Lapidus, “The PetSmart Truther,” is out to find out whether the brand’s name means Pet’s Mart or Pet Smart. In addition to staging rallies to picket the retailer, the musician and comedian composed a metal song demanding answers.
Lapidus teased out the full music video in short clips on TikTok for months leading up to its release on YouTube.
The video begins with Lapidus waiting to start a job at PetSmart’s corporate offices. When he enters his new office and opens a folder that contains a memo titled, “Welcome to the PetSmart family,” he flies into a rage, throwing papers and scaring coworkers. Lapidus screams over a heavy guitar solo performed by former Mean Girls the Musical guitarist Nick Brenock, who also plays the office security guard in the video.
“Yo, I got a question,” Lapidus shouts. “Is it Pet Smart or Pet’s Mart?” The vocals continue, “Are you saying that pets are smart, or are you saying you're a mark? Which one is it?” until the song crescendos at, "I NEED ANSWERS! WHICH ONE IS IT? AND IT CAN'T BE BOTH!!!"
According to PetSmart, “It’s Pet Smart. Case closed.”
Asking the important questions
Lapidus’ music video, including the opening skit and song, is fully two minutes and 53 seconds. Here’s a clip from the video that went viral with 12.1 million views on TikTok:
PetSmart replied in the comments, “Sorry we’re late, we thought this was obvious 😅.”
Commenters who either thought the answer to Lapidus’ burning question was obvious or irrelevant, or both, or literally who cares piped up in the comments.
@ebitda4days wrote, “They’ve been dropping the Epstein files to distract us from this issue. Stay vigilant.”
“My algorithm just drops me off at anybody's doorstep. 😭,” replied @canvice1418.
A helpful internet user commented, “I mean… if you actually want the answer… It started out as PetsMart when it first opened. In 2005 they changed it to PetSmart. It’s in the training videos for employees.”
PetSmart’s reply fumbled a viral moment
On March 4, 2026, PetSmart responded via TikTok that referenced soundbites from Lapidus’ video. In the post’s caption the brand cleared it all up, "It's Pet Smart, case closed. So no more screaming, you're scaring the pets."
TikTok users replying to the post dunked on the brand for their tepid response and failure to leverage a viral moment that was served to them on a platter.
“You guys need a younger, more relevant marketing team; you had the perfect chance to go viral,” commented. @genaymaya.
PetSmart was roasted by @no.microphone, who wrote, “Could of cooked but instead you microwaved.”
@amandakay5024 replied, “You know, somewhere in the office, an intern had a 10/10 hilarious idea that corporate rejected.”
Ben Lapidus did not immediately reply to the Daily Dot's request for comment via TikTok.
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