From England footie aces to Hillary Clinton… how the Mannequin Challenge became a global hit and the latest celeb craze
THERE have been some world-shaking events in the past three weeks – and one that has made it stand still.
On October 26, a few high school kids in Florida filmed themselves in frozen poses and posted the footage online with the hashtag #MannequinChallenge.
Just 21 days later the craze has swept the globe, with everybody from Hillary Clinton to Sir Paul McCartney making dummies of themselves.
On Tuesday even the England football team got in on the act, freezing around the goal after scoring against Spain.
Unfortunately for Jamie Vardy and his pals Spain equalised then added insult to injury by uploading their own, better version of the challenge from their changing room after the match.
Unlike 2014’s Ice Bucket Challenge viral fad, there is no charity fund-raising associated with the craze. But two people have done very well out of it – US hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd, whose track Black Beatles is the backing music of choice for the videos.
It has now reached No1 on the US Billboard chart thanks to its viral fame, which started when the pair got the whole audience at one of their gigs to do the challenge.
Meanwhile, the teenagers in Jacksonville who started it all are watching on in amazement.
Sixteen-year-old Emili, who came up with the idea, said: “Honestly, when we posted it we thought it would be known around school and maybe other schools in our city.”
Here we look at just how the craze took off among celebs.
OCT 26: US school
NOV 4: NFL team
NOV 7: Ellen DeGeneres
NOV 7: Beyonce
NOV 7: Adele
NOV 8: Hillary Clinton
NOV 8: Scott Mills
NOV 8: James Corden
NOV 10: Paul McCartney
NOV 15: Spain's footballers
NOV 15: Lions
NOV 10: Lorraine Kelly
NOV 11: Louis Walsh
NOV 11: Rob Kardashian
NOV 11: Michelle Obama
NOV 12: Britney Spears
NOV 12: Cristiano Ronaldo
NOV 13: US NFL cheerleaders