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It's "kids are eating Tide Pods" all over again. Just older generations oblivious to the evolving state of internet jokes, and the media capitalizing on that to

It's "kids are eating Tide Pods" all over again. Just older generations oblivious to the evolving state of internet jokes, and the media capitalizing on that to drive clicks and ad revenue.

ta988 4y ago
Except that kids were eating tide pods (before the challenges) and that increased during the fame of those challenges. Reports from poison center seems to say there is a clear link.
rufus_foreman 4y ago
From the article: "In a grim precedent, some people really did eat laundry detergent packets in 2018 after a similar “challenge” based on Tide pods took off." They link to another NY Times article from 2018 titled "Yes, People Really Are Eating Tide Pods. No, It’s Not Safe.": "In the first half of January, poison control centers handled 39 cases in which teenagers were intentionally exposed to the detergent packets. That was as many as in all of 2016, the American Association of Poison Control Centers said. Last year, poison control centers handled 53 such cases, the group said in a news release."
- jchw 4y ago
  While that's a non-zero amount, the moral panicking probably caused more than it could've ever helped. For comparison, there's thousands of child washing machine related injuries per year, but probably fewer NYT articles about it.
  - rufus_foreman 4y ago
    When the Washing Machine Challenge starts trending on TikTok, there will be an article about it in the "paper of record". Of course, I had to google. From the UK Mirror, not the Times: "Boy, 13, stuck in washing machine after bizarre social media challenge went horribly wrong" -- https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/boy-13-stuck-washing-machine-12199641 https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/boy-13-stuck-washin...