Challenges have become a realm of their own on the internet over the past few years, and, on occasion, things can take a turn for the worse.
2019 has bequeathed us with the Bottle Cap Challenge, which has been replicated by celebrities worldwide and becomes a showcase for skill, but it has also condemned us with the so-called ‘Ice Cream Challenge.’
The fad was incited after an adolescent girl in Texas recorded herself opening a container of Blue Bell ice cream, licking it, and then proceeding to put it back.
@ILoveBlueBell look at this heights of nastiness from this gal. Please start putting a plastic over the ice cream, so we can know if was tampered with. 🤢🤮 #bluebell #icecream #nastygal pic.twitter.com/LBchBb7OO2
— Tamie Trouble 🇯🇲 ♎️ (@TamieTrouble2) June 29, 2019
Unsurprisingly, the clip drew staunch reactions upon the internet, compelling Blue Bell to lodge a request for an official investigation.
The girl was eventually tracked down and accused of food tampering, a felony in many of America’s fifty states, and handed over to the local juvenile department to face further charges.
But, justice wasn’t swift enough; it seems.
Within days of the original video becoming a trend on social media platforms, a number of users tried to replicate the antics.
In the state of Louisiana, a man named Lenise Martin III was arrested for uploading his iteration of the ‘challenge’ on Facebook, subsequent to which authorities tracked him down.
Of course, Martin’s fate has been different from that of the girl. Given that he’s an adult, Martin has remained in custody since his arrest on the 4th of July, the country’s Independence Day, and will remain as such until putting on trial before a district circuit judge.
The widespread nature that the challenge has donned almost instantly after it first became known has forced consumers into action, with a number demanding plastic sealing on not only ice cream, but also other products that have bore the brunt, including mouthwash, a clip of which is used as a prop for the challenge can be seen below.
you bitches with no oral hygiene could take a hint pic.twitter.com/IaMOC1caid
— Princess Bam (@bameronkall) July 3, 2019