# Mannequin Challenge

> Twitter reported 2.3 million Mannequin Challenge hashtag mentions in one week.

- Owner: null
- Kind: Meme & format
- Sector: Culture (no sector)
- Seed date: 2016-10-26
- Peak date: Week of Nov 18, 2016
- Date basis: Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 63 (Viral), v1.2
- Mechanics: Challenge, Remixable template, Platform jump, Press loop, Political adoption, Brand pile-on

## Summary

Students posted a classroom freeze-frame video; celebrities and brands copied it. Label-backed promotion paired Black Beatles with it, and the song reached No. 1. A staged rescue involving White Helmets volunteers drew criticism; Google later reused challenge videos.

## Timeline

- 2016-10-26 — @pvrity___ (X) — Students at Edward H. White High School in Jacksonville posted a video of themselves holding mannequin poses.
- 2016-11-03 — Rae Sremmurd (Instagram) — Rae Sremmurd froze its Denver concert audience for a Mannequin Challenge set to Black Beatles.
- 2016-11-07 — TIME (Press) — TIME covered celebrity and sports versions and reported 2.3 million Twitter hashtag mentions in the past week.

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/mannequin-challenge

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Mannequin Challenge.” Case HIS-00276. Spread Score v1.2: 63/100. Updated 2026-10-13. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-00276