Program Success 6 September 2021
But it began taking off in mid-August , when two Facebook users posted videos of people undertaking the challenge , one of them broadcast live .
From there , it travelled to Instagram , TikTok , and Twitter , establishing a # cratechallenge hashtag . It ’ s a perfect meme , an absurd Internet-mandated activity in the mold of the 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge and the 2018 Tide Pod Challenge . ( Consuming Tide Pods was also dangerous , of course ; the C . D . C . issued warnings as early as 2012 , and there were rumors of stores locking the product up .)
The likelihood of a daredevil falling from atop the milk crates lends drama and suspense , but the best videos are of those who complete successful climbs , such as a Houston woman named Keri Bowie , who performed the stunt while wearing heels . After seeing videos of the challenge , “ I was , like , why not , you know , take it up another notch ?” she said in a radio interview . “ It wasn ’ t that bad at all .”
The Crate Challenge - Ivermectin The Danger of Runaway Memes
If you see many people doing something online , it ’ s easy to start thinking that you should try it , too .
Two dangerous trends have played out on the Internet over the past week . In one , a group of people were self-medicating with a form of the drug ivermectin — which is commonly used for deworming horses — in a misguided attempt to treat COVID-19 . They traded tips about where to buy it , including at livestock stores , and then , after ingesting it , compared terrible side-effects in Facebook threads .
In another corner , people were stacking plastic milk crates in tall pyramids and climbing them step-by-step , often tumbling many feet to the ground halfway through . The latter was an intentional stunt performed to capture dramatic video for TikTok , whereas the former was a wholly serious quest for medical treatment .
But the two phenomena have more in common than they seem to : both gained traction as memes — in the sense of content that becomes popular over the Internet , generating its own momentum — and both have been suppressed in the same digital spaces that they thrived in .
The milk-crate stunt might provide an instructive model in miniature for what is happening with the veterinary drug . The “ Milk Crate Challenge ” bounced around online as early as a 2011 YouTube video , according to the Web site Know Your Meme .
Most weren ’ t so skilled . The challenge caused a few documented cases of broken or fractured bones in Atlanta . Videos showed people crashing headfirst amid an avalanche of crates . A tweet from Conan O ’ Brien joking about waiting for F . D . A . approval of the challenge drew a response from the actual F . D . A .: “ We can ’ t recommend you try that .”
One orthopedic surgeon warned of “ ACL and meniscus tears , as well as life-threatening conditions like spinal cord injuries .” As early as August 27th , TikTok began blocking search results for the # cratechallenge and similar hashtags , in an attempt to discourage people from injuring themselves trying it — a particularly acute problem at the moment , given the occupation of emergency rooms by COVID-19 patients .
“ TikTok prohibits content that promotes or glorifies dangerous acts ,” a spokesperson for the company said . The videos were spreading too widely and too quickly . Memes thrive on imitation , and this one was inspiring too many imitators likely to land on the ground , and then in the hospital . So steps , like TikTok ’ s , were taken to slow it down .
The Milk Crate Challenge can perhaps be excused as the latest in a long line of silly activity prompts . Taking ivermectin is not a stunt . It ’ s a desperate move influenced by political ideology and medical profiteering . Yet it follows the same pathways as the memes that amuse us , because those pathways have no way of differentiating between a joke and a life-ordeath medical debate . By Kyle Chayka Guest Columnist