Baby Cheese Challenge Sets the Internet Ablaze

People all over the world are throwing slices of cheese at babies and documenting their reactions on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

The prank was started by a Michigan dad named Charles Amara, who shared a Facebook video last Tuesday of a baby getting “cheesed” with the caption, “You asked for it, here it is! Attack of the cheese Episode 2. He wasn’t happy after this one.” Two days later, a Twitter user with the handle @unclehxlmes shared that same video with the message: “just cheesed my lil brother.” By the weekend, the video had racked up more than eight million views on Twitter, but @unclehxlmes decided to delete the tweet and issue a correction:

“I have spoken with the child’s mother and explained why I have deleted it,” Mr. yungholmes VE explains in a follow-up tweet. “It was very invasive for the family and I would like to apologize.” But by the time the video had been deleted, hundreds of other social media jokesters had already tried their hands at the cheese-flinging stunt.

While there’s something sort of cute about seeing a smiling baby with a slice of American cheese stuck to its forehead, the majority of the kids in these videos look understandably confused and/or perturbed the challenge. And that discomfort level is what makes this trend more than a little cringeworthy — because it’s never cool to mess with a baby, just for kicks.

Ever the voice of reason, food-loving mom Chrissy Teigen weighed in on the subject yesterday:

On a more positive note, some savvy adults are applying the same cheese slice prank to their grown-up friends, and the results are often hilarious:

The big difference here is that the adult victims of the stunt can either find the humor in the scenario or dish it back to their friends or loved ones. And, of course, some jokesters have pulled the cheese prank on their dogs (this is, however, not a new trend).

A glimmer of hope for people who are already sick of the baby cheese challenge is that Casey Neistat, a YouTube star with a massive following, has already decried the prank:

Stay tuned for any major updates on baby cheese challenge mania as they become available.

• People fling slices of cheese at babies in new internet challenge started by Michigan dad [WXYZ]
• Why are people throwing CHEESE at their babies? [Daily Mail]
• All Eater IDK Coverage [E]