Laundry isn’t lunch. The Tide Pod Challenge started as a joke. Those laundry pods really looked “too delicious to resist”. Then American teenagers actually bit into them in 2018. The result: Poison control hotlines were flooded, ERs were swamped with cases of chemical burns, seizures, and respiratory failure. More than 12,000 cases of exposure were logged. Tide pivoted with opaque packaging, bittering agents, and a PSA from NFL star Rob Gronkowski. Utterly foolish.
Leave cinnamon alone. In the centuries gone by, White men would colonise and pillage for cinnamon. Now they film themselves as they attempt to eat the powdered stuff by the spoonful. The problem? Cinnamon isn’t water-soluble. Saliva can’t break it down, leaving daredevils sputtering. It’s not just teens. In July, an elderly man filmed himself taking up the challenge. Seconds later, he was coughing and choking. The dare has been around since the early 2010s.
Fainting isn’t fun. TikTok’s Blackout Challenge surfaced in 2008 and came roaring back in 2021. It pushed kids to black out (we won’t say how) —on camera. The activity was tied to child deaths across continents. Lawsuits claimed that TikTok served the clips straight to minors. Blackouts are no joke. It starves the brain of oxygen. Four minutes in, cells begin to die; by five, death is near. Neurologists warn of seizures, memory loss, and stroke-like damage that can last a lifetime.
Cleaning fluids are not toys. We won’t explain TikTok’s Dusting Challenge. But it involves inhaling one particular device cleaner. So much can go wrong so quickly: When chemical gases displace oxygen in the lungs, it derails the brain, and leaves the heart primed for collapse. In 2025, 19-year-old Renna O’Rourke of Arizona collapsed mid-stunt and was declared brain-dead days later.
Survival often comes with seizures, memory gaps, and neurological scars.
Look before you leap. YouTube popularised a strange trend in early 2020. Three friends would film themselves lining up as if to leap together. Then, the one in the middle jumped, and in a split second the others would kick (That’s all we’ll say). The fall isn’t funny. Skulls have cracked as bodies slam backwards, people have had concussions and brain bleeds. It doesn’t even look like fun.
Chilli is for recipes. In 2016, Texas-based brand Paqui unveiled a dare packaged like a daredevil’s souvenir: A single chip, dusted in California Reaper chilli powder, sealed in a coffin-shaped box. The mild reactions included tears, gagging, shaky bravado. The worst ones required hospitalisations and one death. Paqui pulled their death chip. Praise be!
Science is unforgiving. One challenge, involving salt and ice, has been going on for more than a decade. It starts off with pain – and enduring it for bragging rights. But it can very quickly go bad. Salt is harmless by itself. But lowers the freezing point of water. Which means it gets cold enough to cause second-degree burns and blisters. Several American schools have issued warnings about it.
Fire is not your friend. One challenge turned up on social feeds in 2012 and went viral by 2014. Again, we’re withholding the details. But it gets challengers to all but set themselves ablaze. Obviously it rarely ends well. And involving some everyday materials and chemicals makes it even worse. Think of an activity in which the best-case scenario is a singe and the worst is ICU care. We’ll pass.
Leave stunts to the movies. The Bird Box Challenge was inspired by the 2018 movie and got participants to go through the world blindfolded. So far, so silly. People tried to cook, walk, climb stairs blindfolded. Then, one teen in Utah tried driving blindfolded and crashed her car. In the UK, a man perched on railway tracks for views. YouTube and authorities rushed to rein in the frenzy.
Nothing planned is an accident. Back in 2018, the In My Feelings Challenge seemed harmless — just a beat, some moves, and perfect timing. Drake’s Scorpion hit turned streets, gyms, and even hotel lobbies into impromptu dance floors, as everyone hummed “Kiki, do you love me?” Celebrities from Will Smith to Millie Bobby Brown did their version. But when some idiots began leaping from slow-moving cars, it wasn’t fun at all. In India, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Jaipur, and UP reported a string of injuries as dancers misjudged steps, or traffic.
From HT Brunch, September 27, 2025
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