Netflix warns viewers against Bird Box challenge meme: ‘Do not end up in hospital’
- Streaming service asks that people refrain from emulating characters in the film, who must perform every task blindfolded
- Bird Box has been streamed more than 45 million times
Last week Netflix claimed that 45 million of its subscribers had streamed the Sandra Bullock thriller Bird Box in its first week of release: a record for original movie content on the platform.
Five days later, on January 2, it issued a public health warning in the interests of keeping as many of those subscribers alive as possible. The service was responding to a growing social media fad for the Bird Box challenge, in which people emulate characters in the film who must perform every task blindfolded, lest lurking monsters drive them to suicide.
“Can’t believe I have to say this, but: PLEASE DO NOT HURT YOURSELVES WITH THIS BIRD BOX CHALLENGE,” Netflix tweeted from its primary account. “We don’t know how this started, and we appreciate the love, but Boy and Girl (the two unnamed children of Bullock’s character) have just one wish for 2019 and it is that you not end up in the hospital due to memes.”
Netflix’s call for moderation – but not abstention – from the craze came after thousands of videos were posted online showing people stumbling around houses, stairs and woods with scarves wrapped round their eyes.
Meanwhile, YouTube star Morgan Adams’s 24-hour Bird Box challenge earned more than 2 million views in five days.
ABC’s breakfast show Good Morning America also engaged with the meme when one of its anchors attempted to apply make-up to his co-host while blindfolded.