Over the years, we’ve reported on a number of risky social media ‘challenges’, where the challenge in most cases appeared to be staying alive in the face of stupid pranks.
Teenagers (it’s almost always teenagers) were doing everything from causing head injuries, to consuming things that should never be consumed on camera, in the interest of building up ‘likes’ and ‘faves’ on various platforms and pages.
Enter the ‘dancing pallbearers’ meme.
The Tab explains:
For those not familiar, the dancing pallbearers meme is used as a reaction video when someone does something life-threatening and/or generally considered really fucking stupid.
Literally the trend is one whole “insert dangerous video here”, and now it has found renewed meaning with the coronavirus outbreak.
The dancing pallbearers meme has its origins in a 2017 BBC video that documented a group of Ghanian pallbearers who offer funeral services reminiscent of jazz funerals in New Orleans:
The practice, which was already on the rise in 2017, is designed to insert some joy and celebration of life into an otherwise sombre event.
Since then, the video has turned completely viral, especially on TikTok, where it has been used largely as a reaction to videos relating to the coronavirus pandemic.
In one case, some NHS workers even got in on the action (and hot water) for recreating the meme with the “corpse” of a patient.
The pandemic hasn’t been kind to the group. BBC returned to talk to the leader of the pallbearers who said this:
“This pandemic [has brought] my business down. It has come to a standstill. We don’t do business now, and I feel very bad. And then I know after this pandemic, we are going to go around the world to teach people what we do. They will know how we give respect to the dead.”
They also appeared on TV3 – Nana Tafirija two weeks ago:
For examples of the dancing pallbearer meme, watch this compilation of people doing what people do – stupid stuff:
How did we get this far as a species?
The dancing pallbearers are now putting their talents to good use by spreading COVID-19 awareness.
Over to CGTN:
The message is simple and perhaps was best summarized by a billboard that popped up in Brazil showing the men in black with the line: “Stay at home or dance with us.”
That billboard, here:
Benjamin Aidoo, one of the dancing pallbearers, also uploaded a photo on social media, in which all the members wore masks.
In Ghana, dancing pallbearers are part of local traditions dating back to the middle ages.
It’s not a bad way to leave this world.
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