tardasskittytit/5thyear/InstagramIf there was ever an argument for natural selection, this, my fellow horrified observers, is it.
Presenting the latest online craze, dubbed the Tide Pod Challenge by idiots and their detractors alike, sees wrong’uns eating laundry detergent tabs because they look a little bit like colourful sweeties.
What started as a joke about the pretty-looking tabs has been taken too far, ending for many in tears and with a trip to the emergency room for a stomach pump.
InstagramBut just when you thought the challenge couldn’t get any more ludicrous, in come the Vaping Community with their flash flavoured faux-cigarette alternatives, to arrogantly take the title in a big puff of smoke…
Or should that be bubble?
You can watch how that went down in the Instagram video below:
The irony of the vape machines – a replacement for cancerous causing cigarettes – being used to inhale other toxic substances in the name of viral fame is lost on no one apart from the numb-skulled participants.
Professional Instagram vaper, tardasskittytit, shared his insights on Instagram.
He captioned his sponsored post, advertising a Vape brand, thus:
PSA: Don’t vape tide pods vape @kernelvapors caramel instead #tidepods #tidepodmemes
The online trend is causing concern among doctors and parents as – shock, horror – detergent is not meant to be eaten and could have adverse effects on children’s and grown ups’ bodies.
Printed boldly on the packaging for the detergent is:
May be harmful if swallowed
Well, d’uh.
Yet young teens continue to ingest the pods in hopes of online attention.
Most of them spit it out because it’s soap and surprisingly doesn’t taste nice because it’s supposed to clean deep stains out of clothing.
Some people are even chasing vodka with the detergent tablets. Their underdeveloped taste buds and palettes are to blame, perhaps?
Dr. Alfred Aleguas Jr., managing director of the Florida Poison Information Center in Tampa, told Maxim:
They could find themselves in a life-threatening situation. Swallowing even a small amount of the highly-concentrated detergent found in pods can cause diarrhoea and vomiting.
In some cases, some of the detergent could even find its way into the lungs and cause breathing difficulties.
…And yet the Tide Pod Challenge rages on like a tidal wave of wasted time and wasted hospital resources.
As the stupid lead the dumb and bored youth of today – like the planking dangerously at hundreds of feet in the air challenge, the hot water challenge which left some in hospital with third degree burns, and the deodorant challenge – it seems kids are more entertained by modes of self-harm than anything else.
You can see the horrific causes of the hot water challenge in this shocking footage:
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In what seems to be a case of a ‘prank gone horribly wrong’ Jamoneisha Merritt, 11, was left with severe burns to her face, back and shoulders after her friend, Aniya Grant Stuart, aged 12, poured hot water over her as part of the so-called prank.
It’s a dark time when the following statement makes good sense but here goes…
Bring back the Mannequin Challenge.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.