As the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge continues to lead to huge charitable donations to the ALSA, it is inarguable that it is one of the most successful online campaigns to date. However, it’s not the first viral challenge that has made headlines, nor will it be the last.
The following online challenges each saw the denizens of the Internet trampling over one another to take part in them. Unfortunately, none of them did as much good for the world as the Ice Bucket Challenge, and mostly just led to some heinous injuries/unfortunate deaths.
Here are the most popular viral challenges ever.
ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is perhaps the best example of a viral campaign to date. With both celebrities and us mere peasants taking part in it, millions of dollars have raised to help sufferers of ALS. Unlike many online campaigns, the backlash to the Ice Bucket Challenge has been relatively minimal given how darn helpful it is proving to be, serving to raise awareness of a little-known disease and charitable donations from the pockets of everyone from George Bush, to Bill Gates, to Benedict Cumberbatch.
Note: Watch the above video to the very end. Trust us, it’s worth it.
Neknominations/Neck and Nominate
Before the Ice Bucket Challenge showed us that a viral campaign could actually do some good, Neknominations were taking the world (or at least the silly portion of it) by storm.
The concept behind Neknominations was simple – drink a copious amount of liquid, be it alcohol or, in one unfortunate case that actually led to someone’s death, cleaning fluid/de-icer, and then challenge someone else to best you in your frivolous game of one-upmanship. Needless to say, various news outlets began reporting upon it as the worst thing to happen to the human race since the Black Death, meaning that more people began taking part in a misguided act of rebellion.
Thankfully the trend eventually came to a halt, but for the first couple of months of 2014 it was clogging up everyone’s Facebook feeds.
Planking
We wish we could forget about planking, we really do, but after much of 2011/12 was spent being bombarded with images of people lying on their stomachs whilst balancing themselves precariously on tables/walls/objects/tigers, it’s difficult to remove it from our memory bank. Rest assured, though, if we ever get our hands on memory-wiping technology a la Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, this fad will be the first thing to go.
It’s amazing to think that planking lasted nearly a whole year, though this is probably due to it inspiring a myriad of other ridiculous crazes such as Batmanning, Owling and Tebowing. South Park even poked fun at it, with Trey Parker and Matt Stone creating an episode in which Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny took to “Faith Hilling.” Just think, there’s probably someone on the Internet STILL doing this.
Gallon Smashing
When we first saw gallon smashing, we laughed. No matter how much we may deny it, there is still nothing funnier than seeing someone fall over, and the sheer ferocity with which participants flung themselves to the floor, arms flailing as gallons of liquid hurtled into the air, had us failing to stifle our chuckles.
But then each of these videos are punctuated with a little bit of sadness, as those who intentionally fall to the ground find themselves surrounded by passers by who express genuine concern for them. As such, we can only conclude that gallon smashing was the viral challenge of assholes.
Cone-ing
As everyone was busy planking, YouTuber Alki Stevens tried to introduce his own viral challenge into pop culture – cone-ing. While it didn’t achieve the same level of “success” as planking, it certainly pissed off a whole bunch of fast food restaurant workers.
