Viral trends are hit or miss. While some can raise awareness for important issues, like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, others are dangerous and can cause physical harm, like the cinnamon challenge.
What makes people throw all common sense out the window the moment they watch a video on Twitter? People see these trends and think: ‘I can do that, but funnier!’ which creates a never-ending cycle of idiocy where people constantly try to one-up each other until a trend dies.
The current viral trend is eating the “forbidden fruit”: Tide Pods. Laundry detergent pods. Used for cleaning laundry. Soap.
What started out as a silly internet meme about jokingly eating Tide Pods turned into a potentially deadly viral sensation in which people actually put these snack-sized killers into their mouths.
It’s not even a pretentious metaphor for anything; people just do it…to do it. They bite down to make the detergent gush into their mouths, similar to the Betty Crocker product Fruit Gushers.
Charles Darwin, the father of evolution and creator of the concept of natural selection and “survival of the fittest”, is rolling in his grave at the stupidity of mankind.
Like many daily use products, Tide Pods containers are labeled with a warning to not eat, but such warnings are usually seen as a way for the company to protect themselves and a way to make sure parents know to keep the product out of reach of young children who may not know any better.
In no way did the world anticipate that teens and young adults would be the ones chowing down on them.
Here’s a good rule to live by: if something goes viral on the internet with potentially negative consequences, don’t do it.
Very few viral trends are beneficial to society as a whole. Instead, people end up with skin burned from ice and salt, scars from eraser burns, swollen bruised lips, or a piece of ham lodged in someone’s throat.
So the next time you come across a video of the latest viral trend, before you try it yourself, ask yourself some questions about the challenges harmful effects.
