cover of episode Was the Tide Pod Challenge Ever Real? (With PJ Vogt)

Was the Tide Pod Challenge Ever Real? (With PJ Vogt)

2024/10/30
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Panic World

Chapters

The episode begins with a discussion about the Tide Pod Challenge, a viral internet phenomenon where people, mainly teenagers, dared to eat laundry detergent pods.
  • Tide Pods were designed to look like candy, leading to the challenge.
  • The challenge gained national attention and concern due to its dangerous nature.

Shownotes Transcript

Tide Pods were the king of the forbidden candies. The items that looked delicious despite being disgusting, or poisonous, if you actually bit into one. For a few months in 2018, it seemed like the biggest threat to American teenagers was the temptation to participate in the "Tide Pod Challenge," i.e., bite into the Gushers-like laundry pod on camera before calling poison control. Local news was all over the story, police were making videos warning teens of the dangers, an NFL star made a PSA. But, was this actually a real problem? Were teens across the country really this gullible? Was anyone actually being hurt or dying because they ate a Tide Pod?

Our guest PJ Vogt is the host of Search Engine. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts, and you can follow him otherwise @PJVogt.

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Credits

  • Host: Ryan Broderick

  • Producer: Grant Irving

  • Researcher: Adam Bumas

  • Business Manager: Josh Fjelstad

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