We’ve all seen the tweets. These easy to use laundry pacs are being edited into classic pieces of art, being put on dinner plates for funny pictures, and actually being eaten for the joke. 
People are daring their friends to literally eat Tide PODs and calling it the “Tide POD Challenge.” It doesn’t end well.
Tide PODs contain dangerous chemicals that can cause loss of consciousness, burns, esophagus damage and more. Highly concentrated detergent is encased in a water-soluble plastic material that is meant to dissolve in the washing machine once started, and can therefore dissolve in your mouth when it comes in contact with saliva. They can also be easily bit into.
The Tide POD meme, which is often compared to the running joke of drinking bleach, has recently gotten so out of hand online that Tide is actually acknowledging it.
On Jan. 12, Tide posted a short video on Twitter featuring Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots explaining the use of Tide PODs. The video mostly just consists of Gronkowski saying “no” to various questions. At one point in the video, he also says, “What the heck is going on, people?”
“What should Tide PODs be used for? DOING LAUNDRY. Nothing else,” Tide captioned the video. “Eating a Tide POD is a BAD IDEA.”
Tide even has a page on their website devoted to the safety and correct use concerning the laundry pacs. It includes tips on storing them so that children cannot get them, disposing of the product, and using the Child-Guard packages. They also have a section including information about what to do if an incident occurs.
“If a product is swallowed, drink a glass of water or milk and contact the Poison Control Center (1-800-222-1222) or doctor immediately,” it says. “Do not induce vomiting.”
Most of these safety tips, however, are for keeping the product away from children. And although that may be necessary, the fact that the growing problem is with teens and young adults is difficult to adjust to, seeing as they know better than to eat laundry detergent (or so we thought).
But here’s the kicker: the joke of eating Tide PODs has been around longer than most people have realized. In December 2015, The Onion posted a satirical narrative from the perspective of a little boy with the intent of eating a Tide POD. In July 2017, they posted a satirical news article about a new sour apple flavored Tide POD.
In March 2017, CollegeHumor posted a short in which a man is mentally tortured by the idea of eating Tide PODs, entranced by their bright colors and potential flavors. At one point in the short, he compares them to Gushers.
Although it made some early appearances, the meme did not seem to become wildly popular until the later half of 2017, when the Twitter community became invested in the joke.
On Dec. 9, 2017, Twitter user @mineifiwildout tweeted, “no more eating xanax in 2018 we eating tide pods from now on.” This tweet received over 25,000 likes. 
In the past month, we’ve seen (fake) Tide POD flavored Oreos, Chrissy Teigen tweet about the correlation of the trend and Trump’s presidency, and so many comments about how they have killed more people than marijuana.
No matter how enticing the meme makes Tide PODs seem though, please, don’t eat them.
