About

Paper Towel Challenge is a TikTok trend in which users write a message on the front of a sheet of paper towel and one on the back with a marker which is revealed when dropped in the sink. Although the trend, first started in February 2020, resembled emotional hidden messaging like sbeve, the trend began mocking those emotional messages in March.

Origin

On February 29th, 2020, TikToker @.carolinee_ uploaded a video using a sound clip of Lewis Capaldi's song "Someone You Loved"^[2] in which they place a paper towel that reads "love" into the sink and then reveals the word "Alone" (shown below). The video garnered over 25,200 likes in five days.

Spread

On March 2nd, 2020, TikToker @desyori00 used the same sound clip in a paper towel challenge video in which the word changes from "penis" to "beans" (shown below, left). The video garnered over 136,200 likes in three days. That same day, TikToker @h0oligan uploaded a similar video featuring the word "love" transforming into the word "boner" in the sink (shown below, center). The video accumulated over 20,300 likes in three days. The next day, TikToker @jaimesoliz uploaded a popular variation which at first read "you're pretty" then turned into "you're pretty annoying" in the sink (shown below, right). The video received over 3.1 million likes in two days. StayHipp^[1] Published an article on the trend.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References