Bird Box Challenge

2018viral challengedead

The Bird Box Challenge was a viral 2018 to 2019 social dare where people filmed themselves doing everyday tasks while blindfolded, mimicking Sandra Bullock in the Netflix thriller Bird Box. It spread under the hashtag #BirdBoxChallenge and prompted a Netflix safety warning after a Utah teen crashed her car mid-attempt.

challenge memesdangerous challenge memesnetflix memesparticipatory video memesmoral panic memes

Overview

The Bird Box Challenge was a viral internet dare where people filmed themselves trying everyday tasks while wearing a blindfold, copying Sandra Bullock's character in the Netflix thriller Bird Box1. Participants attempted walking down stairs, riding escalators, scootering indoors, dancing and even driving, with most clips ending in the blindfolded person crashing into something or falling over1.

The trend was catalogued under the hashtag #BirdBoxChallenge across Twitter, Instagram and YouTube in late December 2018 and early January 20193. Its appeal was simple slapstick, a friend fumbling through a normal task, tied to a movie plot Netflix's own social team helped seed among streamers before the film even reached a wide audience3.

How It Spread

The tag jumped from streamers to the general public on December 23rd, 2018, when a Facebook user posting as Lamborghini Law shared a photo of himself blindfolded while holding hands with two blindfolded children3. The image was reshared heavily the next day, and by December 24th, blindfolded stunt clips were flooding Twitter, Instagram and YouTube3. A 24-hour blindfolded video from YouTuber Morgan Adams posted on December 30th, 2018 pulled 2.1 million views inside five days3.

By early January the pile-up of injury clips was big enough for Netflix1 to tweet a public warning on January 2nd, 2019, begging fans not to end up in the hospital, a post that racked up more than 50,000 retweets in a day1. Fox News reported the same day that no serious injuries tied to the trend had yet been logged1.

That changed on January 7th, 2019, when a 17-year-old driver in Layton City, Utah pulled a beanie down over her eyes while driving on Layton Parkway with a 16-year-old passenger, drifted into oncoming traffic and struck another vehicle, a light post and a sound wall2. Nobody was hurt, but Lieutenant Travis Lyman told Gizmodo the department was weighing reckless-driving charges2. The Layton City Police tweet showing the wreck pulled over 890 retweets and 1,800 likes within four days3, and a Reddit thread about the crash in r/news gathered more than 2,300 points and 500 comments in the same window3.

How to Use This Meme

A typical Bird Box Challenge clip is short and self-filmed. The participant ties a blindfold on-camera, calls out the task (cooking eggs, walking to the mailbox, beating a video game level) and rolls tape until they either finish or knock something over1. Common conventions include tagging the post with #BirdBoxChallenge, using a scarf or beanie as the blindfold and cutting to a laughing reveal when the blindfold comes off3. After Netflix's January 2nd, 2019 safety tweet, most creators kept the stunts to low-stakes household settings rather than anything involving traffic or stairs1.

Frequently Asked Questions

Bird Box Challenge

2018viral challengedead

The Bird Box Challenge was a viral 2018 to 2019 social dare where people filmed themselves doing everyday tasks while blindfolded, mimicking Sandra Bullock in the Netflix thriller Bird Box. It spread under the hashtag #BirdBoxChallenge and prompted a Netflix safety warning after a Utah teen crashed her car mid-attempt.

challenge memes dangerous challenge memes netflix memes participatory video memes moral panic memes

Overview

The Bird Box Challenge was a viral internet dare where people filmed themselves trying everyday tasks while wearing a blindfold, copying Sandra Bullock's character in the Netflix thriller Bird Box1. Participants attempted walking down stairs, riding escalators, scootering indoors, dancing and even driving, with most clips ending in the blindfolded person crashing into something or falling over1.

The trend was catalogued under the hashtag #BirdBoxChallenge across Twitter, Instagram and YouTube in late December 2018 and early January 20193. Its appeal was simple slapstick, a friend fumbling through a normal task, tied to a movie plot Netflix's own social team helped seed among streamers before the film even reached a wide audience3.

How It Spread

The tag jumped from streamers to the general public on December 23rd, 2018, when a Facebook user posting as Lamborghini Law shared a photo of himself blindfolded while holding hands with two blindfolded children3. The image was reshared heavily the next day, and by December 24th, blindfolded stunt clips were flooding Twitter, Instagram and YouTube3. A 24-hour blindfolded video from YouTuber Morgan Adams posted on December 30th, 2018 pulled 2.1 million views inside five days3.

By early January the pile-up of injury clips was big enough for Netflix1 to tweet a public warning on January 2nd, 2019, begging fans not to end up in the hospital, a post that racked up more than 50,000 retweets in a day1. Fox News reported the same day that no serious injuries tied to the trend had yet been logged1.

That changed on January 7th, 2019, when a 17-year-old driver in Layton City, Utah pulled a beanie down over her eyes while driving on Layton Parkway with a 16-year-old passenger, drifted into oncoming traffic and struck another vehicle, a light post and a sound wall2. Nobody was hurt, but Lieutenant Travis Lyman told Gizmodo the department was weighing reckless-driving charges2. The Layton City Police tweet showing the wreck pulled over 890 retweets and 1,800 likes within four days3, and a Reddit thread about the crash in r/news gathered more than 2,300 points and 500 comments in the same window3.

How to Use This Meme

A typical Bird Box Challenge clip is short and self-filmed. The participant ties a blindfold on-camera, calls out the task (cooking eggs, walking to the mailbox, beating a video game level) and rolls tape until they either finish or knock something over1. Common conventions include tagging the post with #BirdBoxChallenge, using a scarf or beanie as the blindfold and cutting to a laughing reveal when the blindfold comes off3. After Netflix's January 2nd, 2019 safety tweet, most creators kept the stunts to low-stakes household settings rather than anything involving traffic or stairs1.

Frequently Asked Questions