People are throwing cheese at their babies for social media fame
Social media challenges usually fall into a number of categories – the charitable (think the Ice Bucket Challenge), the self-promoting (think the 10-year challenge) and the idiotic (think the Tide Pod eating challenge).
Sweet baby cheeses
Now a whole new genre of challenge has popped up involving people pranking defenceless babies and it might just signal that the end of the world is nigh. Or maybe it doesn’t.
The latest viral challenge is the Baby Cheese Challenge. It involves finding a baby – ideally one you are friends with or parent to – and throwing a slice of cheese on its face.
What is the point of this challenge, you may be wondering. Apparently it’s funny. Not just for the baby but for those looking on or doing the throwing. Or that’s the theory at least.
Here’s an example of that:
It gets better every time I watch it pic.twitter.com/QPRN42x8Xo
— AC? (@annaclairerusso) March 1, 2019
The baby DOES look entertained by this cheesy face slap. But what did other people think of this prank?
Well if you scroll through the comments it appears that they thought it was something they’d like to try themselves.
People actually began throwing cheese at their children and uploading the video footage in response. #Okaaayyyy
Read more stories about social media and parenting:
- New dad Andy Cohen is enduring his first bout of ‘parent shaming’
- Carrie Bickmore’s “Instagram vs reality” update is a reminder to us all
- 5 times Carey Hart and Pink cheekily fired back at the parent police
“He wasn’t happy”
The whole cheese-baby shenanigans was kicked off by a man named Charles Amara so he’s the OG dude to blame. Originally there was apparently a ‘throwing cheese at your dog challenge’ but Charles was the gent who reinvented it – for babies. So thoughtful.
When Charles threw cheese at a baby, the baby was not as happy about it as the child above.
You can see a clip of his effort below. (Episode 1 appears to have been deleted.)
You asked for it, here it is! Attack of the cheese Episode 2. He wasn’t happy after this one…
Posted by Charles Amara on Tuesday, 26 February 2019
The response to Charles’ video has been mixed.
“I’d say a good way to scare a child into NEVER eating a piece of cheese EVER in their life!! And what parent does crap like this to a baby,” one commenter posted.
“Honestly stupid just to get likes and comments,” another person commented. “To get couple hours of fame of degrading your child with this humiliating shit.”
“Congratulations on the child abuse,” someone else wrote.
But other people thought it was blinking hysterical. So there’s that.
On the whole, the internet is divided about the Baby Cheese Prank.
Think pieces have popped up delving deep in the psyches of those throwing the cheese. Thousands of comments and tags have been posted. People have thrown their hands up in the air and shouted, “WHY?” People have posted the word “LOL” about eleventy billion times. It’s a conflicted and confusing cheesy mess, y’all.
I love a prank as much as anybody but I cannot get myself to throw cheese at my adorable, unsuspecting baby who has all the hope and trust in the world in me
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) March 3, 2019
Which cheese works best?
Our favourite response to the Baby Cheese Challenge – nb a tongue-in-cheek one – was the NY Mag‘s recent article titled “Ranked: Best Cheeses to Throw at Your Baby.”
“After long and careful deliberation and testing (I did no testing, this is a lie) it is clear that a nice, thin slice of Gouda is the winner,” writer Madison Malone Kircher decreed.
“Excellent, vibrant color. Good on-face feel. A+ sticky factor. And, as a bonus, it tastes good for when you’re done performatively abusing your child for content and want to eat a snack.”
#SheIsKidding #DontHuntHerDown
In reality, Madison would like you to NOT throw cheese at your baby – or any baby – and we fully support her sensible stance. Also? Leave the dogs alone too.
