Recycling old memes has never been this fun. The meme in question happens to be the immortal snail question from 2014, and people are having a ball re-enacting their POVs on TikTok. The meme revolved around an essential question: Would you take millions of dollars in exchange for being trailed by a snail—which kills you if it touches you—for the rest of your life?
The Origin of the Snail Question
While it’s become popular again in the last few months, it’s already ancient in internet years: Know Your Meme traces its origin back to an August 2014 episode of Rooster Teeth Podcast. The scenario was initially proposed by Rooster Teeth personality Gavin Free. He explained that you’re given $10 million but in exchange, you’re followed by a snail for the rest of your life, and if it touches you you’re dead. Additionally, the money gives you immortality but the snail is also immortal.
@noahglenncarter What would y’all do to eacape the snail #immortalsnail #foryou #snail #thesnail
While the question remained popular for Reddit users throughout the years, its rise to fame in 2021 happened when user Marshmallows posted a reference to the snail meme on iFunny.co with a caption that read: “Me and the snail, billions of years in the future as the dying sun closes in on the Earth.”
The Resurgence on TikTok
Flash forward to 2021 and the Immortal Snail has had a comeback thanks to TikTok. The majority of the videos are also set to John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’, the same track used in the viral iFunny.co post.
@typical_sandwich Could’ve done more, but oh well. My take on the snail trend. #thesnail #snail #meme #art #animation #fypシ #drawing
The hashtag #thesnail has 193.6 million views and the #immortalsnail hashtag has 153.9 million views. The real content, though, is the top videos of creators proposing hilarious and outlandish scenarios for escaping the snail.
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Even further than that, some TikTok users have even put themselves in the perspective of the snail fulfilling its lifelong purpose of killing its victim.
@immortal_snail_official It’s inevitable we will meet my friend #immortalsnail #joinus #fyp
Overall, the trend has been a lot of fun even if it is about being chased by a snail. Now the real question is, would you take the money and defeat the snail?
