About

The Ice Cream Challenge, also known as the #IceCreamChallenge, Ice Cream Licking Challenge and the Tin Roof Challenge, refers to an internet challenge in which participants remove the lid from a container of ice cream and lick across the top before placing it back in a grocery store freezer for an unsuspecting customer to purchase. In late June 2019, the challenge was widely criticized as unhygienic following the circulation of a viral video in which a woman performed the challenge with a container of Blue Bell's Tin Roof ice cream at a Walmart store in Lufkin, Texas.

Origin

On June 28th, 2019, a video began circulating online of a woman opening a container of Blue Bell's Tin Roof ice cream, licking the top and placing it back in a store freezer. Though the original post has not been found, the woman was identified as Instagram user @xx.asiaaaa.xx^[4] on social media according to the news sites Heavy^[1] and MySanAntonio.com.^[2] The following day, Twitter user @BlindDensetsu reposted the footage along with the message "What kinda psychopathic behavior is this?" (shown below). Within one week, the tweet received more than 12.2 million views, 67,500 likes and 28,400 retweets.

Spread

The following day, Twitter user @OnlyGeeves^[5] posted a screenshot reportedly taken from the original Instagram post, showing it was captioned with the message "You can call it Flu Bell ice cream now 'cause I was a lil sick last week" along with a call for others to post similar videos with the hashtag "#tinroofchallenge" (shown below).

On July 2nd, Twitter user @Gayshawnmendes uploaded footage of himself eating a handful of ice cream out of a container before placing it back in a store freezer (shown below). Within 72 hours, the video gained over 12.2 million views, 13,000 likes and 4,100 retweets.

Meanwhile, Twitter user @GatorPA_ tweeted a video by Instagram user @shelley_golden in which she licks a pint of ice cream and places it back in a freezer, along with the message "That Blue Bell ice cream girl has started something" (shown below). Within 72 hours, the video gained over 10,200 likes and 3,600 retweets. The original post by @shelley_golden is no longer available.

On July 3rd, Twitter user @bameronkaii tweeted footage of a person using a bottle of Listerine mouthwash and spitting back into the container before returning it to the shelf. Within 48 hours, the post garnered upwards of 14.2 million views, 19,500 likes and 6,200 retweets.

That same day, the Lufkin Police & Fire Facebook^[3] page released a security camera image of a woman suspected of posting the original Blue Bell ice cream video (shown below). That day, the news site USA Today reported that police stated they may have identified the woman in the video, who could be charged with a crime and face up to 20 years in jail^[6]. On July 5th, Ebaum's World^[7] published an article about the controversy titled "Viral Video of 'Blue Bell Licker' May Lead to 20 Years Jail Time."

In the coming days, photographs of locked ice cream freezers at various grocery stores circulated on social media (shown below).

Parodies

On July 5th, Twitter user @DawGcheck_ posted footage of themselves taking a container of Halo Top ice cream out of a shelf and placing it in their grocery cart (shown below).

That day, Twitter user @KipperQuillen posted a similar parody in which he is shown purchasing an ice cream container at a grocery store checkout (shown below). On July 9th, Mashable^[9] published an article highlighting various parodies of the #IceCreamChallenge.

Lenise Lloyd Martin III Arrest

On July 6th, 2019, Louisiana resident Lenise Lloyd Martin III posted a video of himself to Facebook in which he is seen licking the top of a Blue Bell container of ice cream below putting it back in the freezer. While the original video has been removed, it was reposted by Twitter user @Ms_Pisces_Slay the following day (shown below).

Meanwhile, the news station WBRZ^[8] reported that Martin had arrested by police for "unlawful posting of criminal activity for notoriety and publicity, 1 count of criminal mischief for tampering with property." According to the authorities, Martin claimed he purchased the ice cream after performing the stunt.

Search Interest

External References