What is the Gorilla Glue Challenge? TikTok’s latest trend explained

First cinnamon, then tide pods, and now… Gorilla Glue? It looks like TikTok users are taking the infamous ‘Gorilla Glue Girl’ video – which saw creator Tessica Brown put the adhesive into her hair – to the next level, causing the challenge to go viral on the platform.

Following Brown’s unfortunate experience with Gorilla Glue, which she used to keep her ponytail in place after running out of hairspray, other social media users have been jumping on the trend of appearing to use Gorilla Glue for things like applying false nails and eyelashes.

You’d think the fact that Tessica lost most of her hair and had to go to the ER and would be enough to put people off for life, but apparently not…

What is the ‘Gorilla Glue Challenge’ on TikTok?

The Gorilla Glue Challenge is the latest social media “challenge” that has gained traction on TikTok. With the “Gorilla Glue Challenge” hashtag on the app gaining 6.7 million views in total, users have been using the hashtag for a variety of reasons.

The “challenge” involves people either using Gorilla Glue as a cosmetic product in different ways, or, conversely raising awareness of the dangers that come with using the adhesive on your body to deter people from doing it.

While some are using the hashtag to disprove the effectiveness of Gorilla Glue or try it out as a beauty product, others are using it as an opportunity to raise awareness of the dangers surrounding the product, which is usually used for heavy-duty decorating work.

Why the Gorilla Glue Challenge went viral on TikTok

The “challenge” started to blow up after Instagram user, Len Martin, decided to try gluing a red solo cup to his lips in order to disprove Brown’s account. He claims that he thought he could just lick the adhesive off.

However, with Gorilla Glue once again emerging victorious, Martin was forced to take a trip to the ER himself.

In an interview with WVLA, he described doctors using a “painful peeling” method to remove the cup from his lips. He added: “Everyone is on social media, every day there is a new challenge, but I did not think it would go this far.”

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He shared the entire saga with followers on his Instagram, and revealed in the caption that he might have to have surgery following the experience: “I thought that chick with the Gorilla Glue was making that story up. But no, it’s real. I don’t know why I tried it. Now they’re talking about cutting the tip of my lips off in surgery. Y’all pray for me.”

Are TikTokers using Gorilla Glue as a beauty product?

Even after Brown’s experience, the Gorilla Glue Challenge continued to make rounds on TikTok. TikTok user @drika252525 claimed in a now-deleted post that she used Gorilla Glue to apply false eyelashes, claiming that she “wanted her lashes to be permanent.”

However, as a fan on Twitter pointed out, the TikTok user later debunked claims she used Gorilla Glue in a later video. The fan said: “This person didn’t actually used Gorilla Glue. But still, the fact that she fakes doing it helps the hashtag to spread and in the end people will eventually try it for real.”

https://twitter.com/defnoodles/status/1360417220367511552

Yet, there are other TikToks that appear to show users seriously using the adhesive for beauty treatments. TikToker Destiny Marie, for example, seemed to show that she was about to use Gorilla Glue to apply press on nails. She captioned the TikTok saying: “When you got two kids but you want your nails to last.”

How has the internet responded to the Gorilla Glue Challenge?

As the challenge continues to go viral, social media users have been quick to express their disappointment. One Twitter user said: “If people want to eat tide pods, super glue their body parts, file their teeth and they are adults, let them, as they are old enough to know better. Kids that do for clout though….. Sad times [sic].”

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Noting how Brown appears to have gained a manager and built a profile off the back of her mistake, another Twitter user said: “All it took was one fool making money off of this and all common sense is lost.”

Meanwhile, other social medias are blaming TikTok as a platform, claiming that they should take responsibility for “challenges” like this. One person said on Twitter: “I’m still wondering why TikTok exists despite spreading these “challenges” so often. “