What Is The Bizzare 'Scarf Challenge' Going Viral Across TikTok? The Dangerous Online Trend Explained

Shocking headlines about a deathly blackout challenge in 2021 were some people's first encounters with the strange and sometimes dangerous consequences of so-called TikTok challenges Here is the latest gimmick going viral across the platform that may be cause for concern, the scarf challenge.

What Was The Blackout Challenge?

The blackout challenge is a strange cultural phenomenon that can be traced back to news coverage in the late 2000s, when several schools reported incidents where children would attempt to asphyxiate themselves to the point of "blacking out."

While it is unclear when this playground blackout challenge moved to TikTok, news reports about children harming themselves as a result of participating in the trend emerged out of Italy in 2021.

What Is The Scarf Trick?

The scarf trick is a magic trick involving a scarf and a willing participant, where one person appears to wrap the scarf around another's neck and pulls, only for it to appear as though the scarf passes through their neck with no apparent harm.

Several TikTok creators went viral for sharing the scarf trick, gathering over several million views and likes apiece. The challenge seems pretty harmless for the most part until uneducated participants wittingly or unwittingly began to harm their friends by botching their attempts at doing the magic trick.

@z.daher #scarftrick #scarfchallenge #scarftrickgonewrong #fail #fyp #scarfchallengefail #scarftrickfail ♬ You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch – Tyler, The Creator

@tu_muneca #scarfchallenge ♬ original sound – Stephanie

In June 2023, the New York Post reported that a 16-year-old girl in France named Christy Sibali Dominique Gloire Gassaille died in May while trying the "scarf game challenge." According to the article, the challenge is an offshoot of the blackout challenge, which has been responsible for multiple deaths in the past, in which participants choke themselves with a scarf until they become unconscious.

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For the full history of the scarf game challenge, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.