# Bottle flipping challenge

> A talent-show bottle flip posted on Twitter was retweeted over 47,000 times in two days.

- Owner: null
- Kind: Activity
- Sector: Culture (no sector)
- Seed date: 2016-05-24
- Peak proxy date: 2016-05-26
- Date basis: Proxy date; not a directly measured attention peak.
- Spread Score: 50 (Notable), v1.2
- Mechanics: Challenge, Press loop, Platform jump, Controversy

## Summary

On May 24, 2016, Wes Manning posted a classmate's talent-show bottle flip on Twitter; within two days it had over 47,000 retweets. YouTube copies and a top-charting iOS game followed. By December, schools had banned it and LeBron James had tried it.

## Timeline

- 2016-05-24 — Wes Manning (@WesleyManning6) (X) — Wes Manning posted Michael Senatore's talent-show bottle flip; classmate Scottie Finanger posted another angle.
- 2016-05-25 — WTVR / Tribune Media Wire (Press) — WTVR reported the video had been shared by USA Today, Mashable and Bleacher Report.
- 2016-05-25 — Michael Senatore (X) — Senatore reacted to the coverage on Twitter: "Well this escalated quickly."

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/bottle-flipping-challenge

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Bottle flipping challenge.” Case HIS-01138. Spread Score v1.2: 50/100. Updated 2026-10-15. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01138