The Worst (And Most Dangerous) TikTok Trends Of September 2022

Sometimes, TikTok can go a bit too far. Even though it’s one of the most loved platforms out there, there’s a reason why it’s also one of the most despised. It's not necessarily the fault of the platform, but it's often a hivemind mentality that spreads between lots of people on social media. Sometimes, the trends that pop up on TikTok can be cringeworthy, annoying or downright dangerous. And this month has been particularly memorable, especially after NyQuil chicken had a resurgence in popularity. Here’s what you need to know about this month’s worst TikTok trends.

NyQuil Chicken

This "challenge" (though it's really more of a bunch of isolated examples of people being dumb rather than a challenge) has been around for a while now, and it clearly shouldn’t have been created in the first place. Basically, it involves marinating or boiling some chicken in NyQuil. If you’re partaking in the NyQuil chicken challenge, you’re probably not in a good place mentally, and hopefully you’re seeking some help to deal with that, because dosing yourself with a mystery amount of a strong medication alongside your unseasoned chicken is usually not a sign of good mental health. Nevertheless, this is a blowing up on TikTok yet again for some reason, and many warnings about it have been issued, especially since it overconcentrates the chemicals in the NyQuil and causes unknown effects when combined with raw meat, plus the steam from cooking this can be toxic. And it’s best to listen to these warnings, because if you try NyQuil chicken, you’ll have to explain to a bunch of doctors and nurses exactly why you wound up in the ER, and they will absolutely laugh at you for doing something so dumb while you throw up and pass out over and over again.

The Corn Song

Corn Kid and the Corn Song were fun at first. They made a great wholesome meme. But then, they were corrupted into a trend that didn’t really make a lot of sense, and gave people with corn costumes the perfect excuse to be cringeworthy (there’s a lot more of those people out there than you’d think). Now, it’s just a horrible thing to witness. The meme died quickly, and people are strangling all remaining humor out of it. It’s not a good thing to see, especially for something that once started out as a cute video of a kid who loved corn.

“It’s a Problem When I Do It”

Again, this one’s not really a dangerous one like the NyQuil chicken, but it’s also incredibly annoying. A trend has started up where TikTokers use a filter of their face as they lip sync to the line “It’s cool when they do it, it’s a problem when I do it” in a song called “Back End” by Finese2tymes. And it’s become a real problem not only because the videos are quickly losing popularity due to the repetitiveness of the joke and the fact that the filter makes people look like the Boss Baby, but because people will sometimes confess to things that are actually problematic, using those questionable things they’ve done as a joke.

Nasal Spray Tans

This is less the fault of TikTokers, and more the fault of the companies selling a product that’s known to be dangerous (and contains chemicals that are illegal in the United States), but some people on TikTok have been sharing a life hack that became a challenge involving nasal sprays. These sprays are marketed as causing your skin to tan when they’re used properly. Use of these has caused multiple confirmed cases of skin cancer, and it’s definitively not a safe way to get a tan, yet that hasn’t stopped TikTokers from essentially advertising the spray through various suggestions and challenges for other TikTok users.