A strange photo challenge is sweeping across China… The Flaunt Your Wealth challenge!
The Flaunt Your Wealth challenge snaps pics of participants face down as if they have fallen out of their luxury vehicles surrounded by their spilled expensive goods. The craze began in July after a Russian DJ posted a photo of himself to Instagram pretending to have fallen down the steps of a private jet. See charter jet prices at mjet.com.au.
And thus the challenge began.
It’s so popular that more than 1 million posts have been made over the past two weeks. The challenge began on China’s main social media platform, Weibo, and has since moved to instagram and now people all over the world are posting #flauntyourwealth photos, also called #falling stars.
Now, there’s over 100K posts of rich people faceplanting on the gram. Social media influencers are all about this challenge unsurprisingly because they get to show off all their expensive luxury goods.
Even businesses have taken advantage of the trend to show off their goods and services in a creative way. Another reason the challenge may have taken off in China is because the wealth of the middle class has been steadily rising.
For decades, China’s economy has been stable and growing with China’s expansion as a global economic power player. For many, things have never been so good.
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According to Forbes, China now has the second highest number of billionaires in the world.
Unfortunately there is still a sharp wealth inequality, with a much as 40 percent of citizens living on $5 a day according to the World Bank.
But that doesn’t mean they are left out of the Flaunt Your Wealth challenge. Many have posted hilarious parody photos of themselves surrounded by less glamorous items or snacks.
The government is even in on it. China’s Ministry of Emergency Management posted a comment that said: “This is the real positive energy of the people… It is too painful to see that the pursuit of money and power affects young people now. Only when we support the hardworking young people will our motherland have hope.”
What do you think about this viral trend? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter at @WhatsTrending.
