What is the apple juice challenge on TikTok?

The popular ‘apple juice’ challenge is making a comeback on TikTok, and users are going viral by participating in it — here’s everything to know about the trend.

TikTok trends are usually characterized by their ability to capture users’ attention and encourage mass participation, and they often involve music, dance, comedy, or quirky challenges.

Some that have previously trended on the short-form video app include the ‘Good Knees’ dance challenge, the ‘one thing about me’ trend, and the bizarre ‘banana and Sprite’ challenge.

Now, a popular challenge known as the ‘apple juice challenge’ has taken the social media platform by storm. It first appeared on TikTok in 2020, but it has returned again in 2023, intriguing and engaging millions of users worldwide. If you’re out of the loop, here’s everything you need to know.

TikTok’s apple juice challenge explained

The fad sees TikTok users biting into an apple-shaped Martinelli’s plastic bottle, and finding out that when bitten, it sounds remarkably like biting into a real apple.

The challenge is to record a video of yourself biting into the apple juice bottle, capturing the surprising, crunchy sound, and sharing your reaction on the app.

A lot of the clips may seem like people are adding a special effect sound of an apple to make it look like the bottle is actually making that sound. However, participants of the trend are insisting that it’s actually real.

TikToker iconiccoinkk uploaded a video that solved the mystery. She showed a Martinelli juice bottle cut in half, and on closer inspection, revealed that the hard plastic had three layers of plastic which made the crunching sounds.

The unique acoustics of the plastic bottle and the unexpected nature of the sound it produces when bitten is what drove this trend’s virality. So far, the hashtag for the challenge has amassed over 260 million views, with posts featuring surprised, delighted, or confused expressions.