Viral Instagram Egg Cracks Open to Reveal an Important Mental Health Message
Whether you like them over easy or hard-boiled, there’s no denying the biggest social influencer on Instagram right now is none other than a beautiful brown egg. The simple photo currently holds the world record for most likes on the platform. In an eggs-ellent development on Sunday, the world’s favorite egg hatched an important mental health message.
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The egg photo began as a bit of mystery. It was posted to Instagram with the message, “Let’s set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram. Beating the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million)!” In short order, the photo amassed more than 52 million likes on Instagram and became a viral sensation.
Then, starting Jan. 18, the egg slowly began to crack over a series of new Instagram posts, which culminated in a partially cracked egg dressed up with football lacing. The caption announced “all will be revealed” about the egg after the Super Bowl on the video streaming platform Hulu.
While speculation ran amok about what the egg might reveal, few were egg-specting a mental health public service announcement. But that’s just what the egg served up. In the 30-second clip, posted to Instagram and aired via Hulu, we see the egg crumble under pressure.
“Recently I’ve started to crack,” reads the PSA’s caption. “The pressure of social media is getting to me. If you’re struggling too, talk to someone.”
The video’s caption then urges viewers to reach out for support if you’re struggling with your mental health and concludes with a link to Mental Health America. The Instagram version of the clip links to TalkingEgg.info, which lists international mental health resources by country. Mental Health America thanked the egg for its message in support of all those who live with a mental health condition.
We’d like to thank #TalkingEgg for shining a limelight on #mentalhealth tonight with an important message. Not everyone chooses to #fightintheopen for mental health, but you did for the 1 in 5 Americans living with a mental health condition. Thank you, #EggGang! ???????? pic.twitter.com/9KPlXG5re4
— Mental Health America (@MentalHealthAm) February 4, 2019
The mystery of the creator of the viral egg was also unscrambled on Sunday. The New York Times revealed that London-based advertising creative Chris Godfrey and a couple friends — Alissa Khan-Whelan and C.J. Brown — were behind the surprise viral trend.
According to Godfrey, who works for The & Partnership, the idea started with him wondering if something as simple as an egg — whose name happens to be Eugene — could upend Jenner’s Instagram world record.
“An egg has no gender, race or religion, Godfrey told The Times. “An egg is an egg, it’s universal.”
As groundswell support grew on Instagram, Godfrey and the #EggGang behind the viral sensation wanted to use the attention to spread positive messages, starting with mental health. According to Eugene’s team, mental health is just the first of several causes they hope to get behind.
“We felt that the time was right to come out,” Khan-Whelan said. “People have fallen in love with this egg, and Eugene the egg wants to continue to spread positive messages.”
Header image via Instagram.
Renée Fabian was the features editor at The Mighty. She has also written for The Washington Post, VICE, Healthline, Talkspace, The Fix, The Establishment, The Culture Trip, and GRAMMY.com, among others. Renée was named a 2019 AHCJ Comparative Effectiveness Research fellow, a 2020 USC Center for Health Journalism California fellow, and holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California and a master's degree in psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles. You can follow her on Twitter @ryfabian.
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