Mannequin Challenge

The Mannequin Challenge is a viral Internet video trend where people remain frozen in action like mannequins while a moving camera films them, usually with the song "Black Beatles" by Rae Sremmurd playing in the background. The hashtag #MannequinChallenge was used for popular social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. It is believed that the phenomenon was started by Dr. Dre in Kush's music video in 2010. The initial posting has inspired works by other groups, especially professional athletes and sports teams, who have posted increasingly complex and elaborate videos.

News outlets have compared the videos to bullet time scenes from science fiction films such as The Matrix, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Lost in Space or Buffalo '66. The portrayal of ordinary people in a scene from normal life by movement-suppressed actors appeared in the 2015 music video for Alessia Cara's song "Here". Meanwhile, the participatory nature of the challenge on social media makes it similar to memes such as Makankosappo or the Harlem Shake. Others have noted similarities with the HBO TV series Westworld, which debuted around the same time, where robotic hosts can be stopped in their tracks.

A number of notable sports teams, including both collegiate and professional, as well as sports personalities, have engaged in the challenge. Notable instances of sport-figure participation include:

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