Photo: IMDb
We’ve seen the Kylie Jenner lip challenge, the ALS ice bucket challenge, and now the Internet has birthed the Bird Box challenge, based on the new Netflix horror movie starring Sandra Bullock.
In the movie, an epidemic breaks out in which anyone who looks at an invisible monster is driven to commit suicide. If you shield your eyes from the monsters, they can’t hurt you, leading Bullock’s character to wear a blindfold as she tries to find safety for her and her children.
The movie spawned dozens of viral memes, including a meme challenge in which people are blindfolding themselves and doing stupid things. And they’re posting it all to social media using the hashtag #BirdBoxChallenge.
Some videos are innocent enough, like Michael Strahan attempting to put lipstick on Good Morning America cohost Sarah Haines.
#BirdBoxChallenge: @michaelstrahan attempts to put lipstick on @sarahaines with a blindfold on! #GMADay https://t.co/G4PdrKdY6w pic.twitter.com/h5HIWtJtXw
— Good Morning America (@GMA) January 2, 2019
Other videos are more ridiculous, including people walking through city streets blindfolded and people driving with hats pulled over their faces. Yes, driving blindfolded. Call it survival of the fittest if you will, but obviously this is causing plenty of people to get seriously injured, kind of like when people became so obsessed with Pokémon Go that they were running across highways trying to catch ’em all.
The stupidity led Netflix to issue a statement pleading with people not to hurt themselves.
Can’t believe I have to say this, but: PLEASE DO NOT HURT YOURSELVES WITH THIS BIRD BOX CHALLENGE. We don’t know how this started, and we appreciate the love, but Boy and Girl have just one wish for 2019 and it is that you not end up in the hospital due to memes.
— Netflix (@netflix) January 2, 2019
And we’re off to a great start in 2019!
