# Tide Pod Challenge > Tide Pod Challenge is a 2018 viral internet dare where teenagers filmed themselves eating colorful laundry detergent capsules, sparking emergency room visits and intervention by YouTube, Facebook, and P&G. The Tide Pod Challenge was a viral internet dare in early 2018 where people, mostly teenagers, filmed themselves biting into or eating Tide PODS laundry detergent capsules. What started as ironic jokes about how the colorful, squishy pods looked like candy evolved into an actual challenge that sent people to emergency rooms and forced Procter & Gamble, YouTube, and Facebook to intervene. The meme peaked in January 2018 and became one of the most widely covered internet trends of its year, sparking debates about social media's role in encouraging dangerous behavior. ## Origin The roots of the Tide Pod meme trace back to genuine safety concerns. P&G introduced Tide PODS in 2012 after eight years of development, spending $150 million on an advertising blitz[8]. The product crossed $500 million in sales within its first year[8]. But the pods' appealing appearance created immediate problems. Senator Chuck Schumer commented in September 2012: "I saw one on my staffer's desk and I wanted to eat it"[5]. The CDC flagged them as an emerging health risk that same year[5]. Between 2012 and 2013, poison control centers received over 7,000 reports of young children eating laundry pods, averaging about one child hospitalized per day[5]. By 2017, pod ingestion had caused eight deaths, six of which involved adults with dementia[5]. The earliest known online discussion treating pod-eating as a topic of fascination came on December 4, 2013, when Straight Dope Forums member Silvorange posted a thread titled "People eating Tide pods"[4]. On December 8, 2015, The Onion published a satirical op-ed written from the perspective of a toddler plotting to eat a detergent pod, titled "So Help Me God, I'm Going to Eat One of Those Multicolored Detergent Pods"[13]. The piece portrayed a baby scheming around parental supervision to get at the pods and is widely credited as a foundational text for the meme[5]. On July 11, 2017, The Onion followed up with a fake news article announcing a "Sour Apple" flavor of Tide PODS, complete with descriptions of "patented Odor Defense technology as well as a sugar coating"[11]. That same month, a Reddit user posted "Bite into one of those Tide Pods. Do it." to r/intrusivethoughts[4]. - **Platform:** Straight Dope Forums (early discussion), Twitter / Tumblr (meme spread), YouTube (challenge videos) - **Creator:** Unknown (community-created). Key early posters include Straight Dope user Silvorange (first forum discussion), Twitter user @mineifiwildout (viral December 2017 tweet), YouTuber TheAaronSwan669 (first challenge video) - **Date:** 2017 (meme), January 2018 (challenge) ## Overview The Tide Pod Challenge centered on Tide PODS, the brightly colored laundry detergent capsules made by Procter & Gamble. The pods feature a distinctive blue, orange, and white swirl pattern with a soft, squishy texture that people joked looked like candy, gummy snacks, or fruit-filled dumplings[8]. The meme existed in two distinct phases: first as ironic jokes about *wanting* to eat the pods (the "forbidden snack" era), and then as an actual dare challenge where people filmed themselves biting into them. The pods contain over 700 chemicals including highly concentrated surfactants and propylene glycol[3]. Even brief contact with the mouth can damage cells due to the concentrated detergent, and ingestion can cause burns to the esophagus, respiratory damage, and in severe cases, perforation of the esophagus or stomach ulceration[3]. The pods' pH is near neutral (6.8-7.4), so the damage comes not from acid or alkaline burns but from concentrated alcohol ethoxylates that interfere with surface tension in lung tissue and destroy esophageal mucosa[9]. ## How It Spread The meme's transition from niche joke to mainstream sensation happened in December 2017. On December 9, Twitter user @mineifiwildout tweeted "no more eating Xanax in 2018 we eating tide pods from now on," which picked up over 25,600 likes and 7,100 retweets within two weeks[4]. Two days later, @littlestwayne tweeted a GIF of Oprah munching on stage as a joke about eating Tide PODS, earning over 25,000 likes[4]. Posts on Tumblr framed the pods as "forbidden fruit," and the joke spread across platforms rapidly through late December[5]. On January 1, 2018, Instagram user greenpantsu posted an anime-style anthropomorphic drawing of a Tide POD character dubbed "Tide Pod Chan," which got over 5,000 likes in three days[4]. The character was quickly picked up by cosplayers and fan artists. The first known challenge video dropped on January 7, 2018, when YouTuber TheAaronSwan669 uploaded "TIDE POD CHALLENGE," though he pretended to participate before revealing it as a joke[4]. Over the following week, genuine challenge videos multiplied across YouTube and Facebook. One video by Facebook user Corey B. on January 12 pulled 3.3 million views, 61,000 reactions, and 5,900 comments before being removed[4]. Media coverage exploded. The Washington Post, CBS, and the Chicago Tribune all ran stories[4]. CBS News reported on the challenge during its January 12 broadcast, while Good Morning America's Diane Macedo said on air: "I can't even believe I have to say this right now"[6]. According to the Washington Post, U.S. poison control centers had logged over 10,500 exposures among children under 5 in 2017, with about 220 teen exposures that year. In just the first 11 days of 2018, there were 40 reported teen exposures, and more than half were intentional[6]. ## How to Use The Tide Pod Challenge meme typically takes two forms: **As an ironic joke (the most common form):** 1. Reference Tide PODS as though they're a delicious food item ("forbidden snack," "candy," "gummy bears") 2. Post images of pods placed on pizza, used as cereal toppings, or arranged as appetizers 3. Express fake longing to eat them, usually with exaggerated enthusiasm 4. Suggest someone who did something foolish should "go eat a Tide Pod" 5. Reference the challenge when mocking poor decision-making or social media clout-chasing 6. Compare any colorful, appealing-but-inedible product to Tide PODS ## Cultural Impact The Tide Pod Challenge triggered one of 2018's biggest media storms. Every major news network covered the story, with CBS, ABC, and Good Morning America running segments warning parents[6]. The American Association of Poison Control Centers became a regular news source, and the (800) 222-1222 hotline number appeared across countless articles and broadcasts[1]. P&G's response became a Harvard Business School-level case study. Wharton's Knowledge at Wharton program dedicated a full episode to analyzing the brand crisis, with professors noting that P&G combined platform cooperation, influencer messaging (Gronkowski), and meme-format social content to shift the narrative[7]. The company's social media team created posts that were themselves shareable and "meme-looking," effectively fighting memes with memes[7]. YouTube and Facebook's decision to actively remove challenge videos on January 18, 2018, marked a notable moment in platform content moderation, with both companies citing policies against content encouraging dangerous activities[4]. Tide Pod-themed foods became a trend among restaurants looking to capitalize on the joke safely. Hurts Donut in Springfield, Missouri created a Tide Pod-themed donut, posting it next to an actual pod with "No" over the pod and "Yes" over the donut[4]. Multiple privately owned restaurants offered similar Tide Pod-inspired items during the craze[4]. The challenge also had a medical legacy. Emergency Physicians Monthly published a clinical review documenting the pathophysiology of pod ingestion, noting that standard management is primarily supportive and that normal oral exams do not exclude esophageal damage[9]. The review documented a case requiring endoscopy that revealed "mild sloughing of the entire esophagus"[9]. ## Fun Facts - P&G spent eight years and involved over 75 employees to develop Tide PODS, going through 450 different packaging and product sketches before the 2012 launch[8]. - Each Tide Pod contains enough propylene glycol to deliver an estimated dose of 325-430 mg/kg in a 60 kg adult. Prior case reports documented significant CNS depression at just 150-200 mg/kg of oral propylene glycol[9]. - The Onion published not one but two satirical articles about eating Tide PODS (in 2015 and 2017), both of which are cited as foundational texts for the meme[11][13]. - New York lawmakers introduced actual legislation in 2018 to make the pods look less appetizing, suggesting single-color designs and individual child-resistant wrappers[12]. - Tide's social media manager spent January 2018 directing people who claimed to have eaten pods to call Poison Control, an assignment that was presumably not in the job description[1]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the Tide Pod Challenge? The Tide Pod Challenge was a viral internet dare from early 2018 where people filmed themselves biting into or eating Tide PODS laundry detergent capsules. It grew out of earlier memes joking about how the colorful pods looked like candy or snacks[4]. ### Where did the Tide Pod Challenge come from? The joke about eating Tide PODS traces back to a 2013 Straight Dope Forums thread and a 2015 satirical article by The Onion. The meme went viral on Twitter in December 2017, and actual challenge videos first appeared on YouTube in January 2018[4][5]. ### What does the Tide Pod Challenge mean? The meme plays on the ironic tension between knowing something is dangerous and finding it visually appealing. Calling Tide PODS "forbidden fruit" or "candy" was both a joke about the product's design and a commentary on the appeal of doing obviously stupid things for online attention[5]. ### How do you use the Tide Pod Challenge meme? Today the meme is used as a cultural reference point. People joke about eating Tide PODS to mock poor decision-making, reference dangerous internet trends, or participate in the broader "forbidden snack" genre of humor[7]. ### Is the Tide Pod Challenge still popular? The actual challenge died out rapidly after January 2018 when YouTube and Facebook began removing videos and media coverage peaked[4]. The phrase "Tide Pod Challenge" is now used mostly as a historical reference to dangerous internet trends. ### How dangerous is eating a Tide Pod? Extremely dangerous. The concentrated surfactants can burn the mouth and esophagus, damage lung tissue if aspirated, and propylene glycol can cause CNS depression and lactic acidosis. Between 2012 and early 2017, eight deaths were reported from laundry pod ingestion[5][9]. ### How did P&G respond to the Tide Pod Challenge? P&G released a video starring NFL player Rob Gronkowski, worked with YouTube and Facebook to remove challenge videos, and used social media to discourage the behavior. They had already added bitter coatings and child-resistant packaging in 2015 after child ingestion incidents[4][7]. ### How many people were poisoned by Tide Pods? In the first 11 days of January 2018, 40 teen exposures were reported to poison control, with more than half being intentional. This represented 20% of all similar incidents for all of 2017. Over 10,500 children under five were exposed in 2017 alone[6][4]. ### Did YouTube remove Tide Pod Challenge videos? Yes. On January 18, 2018, Google announced YouTube would remove Tide Pod Challenge videos under its community guidelines prohibiting content that encourages dangerous activities. Facebook made an identical announcement the same day[4]. ### What happened with Tide's boxed wine packaging? In November 2018, P&G launched the Tide Eco-Box for e-commerce customers. The cardboard box with a twist-to-open spout looked strikingly similar to boxed wine, sparking a second wave of memes about consuming Tide products[2][10]. ### Were there any laws proposed because of the Tide Pod Challenge? Yes. In February 2018, New York State Senator Brad Hoylman and Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas introduced legislation calling on P&G to make pods less appetizing by using uniform colors and adding child-resistant individual wrappers[12]. ### What is Tide Pod Chan? Tide Pod Chan is an anime-style anthropomorphic character representing Tide PODS, created by Instagram user greenpantsu on January 1, 2018. The illustration was cosplayed within days and went viral across Facebook fan pages[4]. ## References 1. [Tide's Twitter account responds to people who say they ate Tide Pods | Mashable]() 2. [Procter & Gamble Announces Boxed Tide—And It Looks Like Boxed Wine]() 3. [Tide Pods: Uncovering the science behind the meme - The Tribune]() 4. [Tide POD Challenge - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Consumption of Tide Pods]() 6. [Tide POD Challenge - Urban Dictionary]() 7. [Is the 'Tide Pod Challenge' a Real Thing? | Snopes.com]() 8. [Brand Crisis Management: Responding to the Tide Pod Challenge - Knowledge at Wharton]() 9. [Tide Pods: How a product became so appealing that it inadvertently turned into a public health risk - ABC7 Los Angeles]() 10. [Remember the Tide Pod Challenge? A Review of Laundry Pod Ingestion | Emergency Physicians Monthly]() 11. [Tide’s New Packaging Looks Like Boxed Wine]() 12. [Oh Good, Tide's New Packaging Looks Exactly Like Boxed Wine]() 13. [MN Poison Control Says 'Tide Pod Challenge' Is No Joke - CBS Minnesota]() 14. [Tide's Twitter account responds to people who say they ate Tide Pods | Mashable]() 15. [Media | Pernod Ricard]() 16. [Tide Debuts New Sour Apple Detergent Pods - The Onion]() 17. [New York Lawmakers Want Tide Pods to Look Less Delicious]() 18. [Do Not Drink Tide… Even If Its New Packaging Looks Just Like Boxed Wine | HuffPost Latest News]() 19. [So Help Me God, I’m Going To Eat One Of Those Multicolored Detergent Pods - The Onion]() 20. [Procter & Gamble Announces Boxed Tide—And It Looks Like Boxed Wine]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/tide-pod-challenge Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library