# Cheerio Challenge

> Life of Dad said its cereal-stacking challenge drew 30,000 shares on the original post.

- Owner: Patrick Quinn / Life of Dad
- Kind: Meme & format
- Sector: Food & beverage
- Seed date: 2016-06-16
- Peak date: Week of Jun 19, 2016
- Date basis: Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 38 (Niche, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Challenge, Remixable template, Response chain, Platform jump, Press loop, Political adoption

## Summary

Patrick Quinn posted a stacking challenge on Life of Dad’s Facebook page, and the team bought promotion. Parents copied it on Twitter and Instagram; Cheerios partnered with Life of Dad. Obama reused it for voter registration, and a sponsored return offered family trips.

## Timeline

- 2016-06-16 — Patrick Quinn / Life of Dad (Facebook) — Patrick Quinn posted his baby with stacked Cheerios and challenged parents to beat his stack.
- 2016-06-16 — Life of Dad (Facebook) — Life of Dad submitted a Facebook ad; it said the photo reached over a million people before approval.
- 2016-06-17 — BuzzFeed (Press) — BuzzFeed interviewed Quinn and published parents’ Cheerio-stacking attempts.

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/cheerio-challenge

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Cheerio Challenge.” Case HIS-00087. Spread Score v1.2: 38/100. Updated 2026-10-12. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-00087