If you’re wondering why your social media feed has been saturated with videos of celebrities spin-kicking plastic bottles, you’ve probably stumbled upon the #bottlecapchallenge.
The latest viral internet challenge to flood our timelines was started by Farabi Davletchin, former Taekwondo and Hapkido world champion. In a video posted to his Instagram @farakicks on June 25, Davletchin spin kicks a cap clean off a plastic bottle, without toppling the bottle itself.
The iconic video (literally) kickstarted the internet’s latest viral challenge, which has drawn mass attention as far away as China. After Davletchin nominated multiple celebrity martial-artists to participate, he triggered a chain reaction that now has Chinese netizens and stars alike rising to the challenge with their own personal takes.
“Bottle” Cap Challenge! pic.twitter.com/3qfLDeg5A6
— People’s Daily, China (@PDChina) July 7, 2019
Chinese mega-celebrities like Donnie Yen (Ip Man, Star Wars) and Vincent Zhao (Once Upon a Time in China) have racked up thousands of likes on Weibo with their #bottlecapchallenge submissions, joining the increasingly international pool of celebrities who are assaulting bottles for views.
In typical challenge fashion, virality rewards creativity. Donnie Yen’s blindfolded take on the challenge has been viewed over 60 million times on Weibo, turning “Yen Zidan’s Bottle Cap Challenge” into a trending topic itself, with both American and Chinese netizens crowning him the virtual king of the challenge.
IP Man, Jedi and now Bottle Cap Challenge Champ. Donnie Yen is unstoppable ?? pic.twitter.com/sxwy7P2jB9
— Black Superman ?? (@adrianm_14) July 3, 2019
From Yen’s blindfolded precision kick, to Vincent Zhao’s successful clearing of three bottles at once, to Ryan Reynolds’ attempt which ended with a shattered bottle of gin and a hasty escape, the #bottlecapchallenge has united the internet’s most beloved personalities in the pursuit of finding the most creative way to separate a bottle from its cap.
