The forbidden fruit

After 86 reports of teenagers ingesting laundry detergent packets, Youtube has decided to to remove videos of users taking bites out of Tide pods. Youtube has been removing the videos, citing their community guidelines and its rule against videos that have an inherent risk of self harm.
The latest internet fad, the “Tide Pod Challenge,” is the newest dangerous internet trend with the Poison Control Center reporting 39 calls in the first 15 days of 2018.
The origin of the challenge links back to early this year, where internet users joked about how appetizing the detergent looked. The detergent in the pods are brightly colored and look similar to candy, which in the past has caused major issues with young children.
The detergent in the packets is much more concentrated than regular packets and is much more dangerous. Coming into contact with the liquid in the packet can cause chemical burns. Tide has been working hard to prevent more incidents, including teaming up with football player Rob Gronkowski to create a video against eating Tide Pods.
Several restaurants have tried to capitalize on the challenge and controversy. A pizzeria in Brooklyn, N.Y. created “PIE’d pods,” where the cheese is colored blue and orange similar to the colors of laundry detergent packet. In bakeries all over America, people are whipping up “Tide Pod Donuts,” which are normal donuts that are iced to look like the detergent packets. Hopefully the next internet craze is not as dangerous as this one.