Cracking the egg: The era of the Instagram-famous World Record Egg
Exploring the world record egg and other Instagram accounts
March 13, 2019
Two months ago, Instagram user @world_record_egg posted a picture of a lightly speckled brown egg that quickly accumulated over 53 million likes. It had easily surpassed the previous most-liked picture of entrepreneur and reality television star Kylie Jenner’s baby, which has over 18.7 million likes.
When junior Manish Malempati first saw the photo, he didn’t understand why the post gained so much attention.
“I saw [the post] when it was at 50,000 likes, and I was like ‘okay, this is memes,’” Malempati said. “Then, I liked it because whatever, and then the next day, it was at 13 million or something crazy.”
Sophomore Akshat Rohatgi explains that Instagram makes it easy to share content because of the high number of daily users. According to Instagram, the app has over a billion users. Rohatgi also thinks, like Malempati, that people were more willing to like the post because it did not hold any significant value and it was just for fun.
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“I thought it was something cool and I realized that there was no harm in liking it,” Rohatgi said. “I saw some people that I follow, like some of my friends, already liked it. I saw it on some people’s stories promoting it.”
According to junior Kellie McCuistion, the post was quickly spread through Instagram as friends and celebrities began reposting it. Her initial reaction was: why an egg out of everything? What inspired the creator of the account to attempt this world record?
In an interview with The New York Times, the creator of the account, Chris Godfrey, explained that he wanted to see if something as basic as an egg could beat the world record. Godfrey explained that “an egg has no gender, race or religion. An egg is an egg — it’s universal.”
Malempati believes that this is one of the main reasons as to why the egg became such an internet sensation.
“In reality, not everyone knows who Kylie Jenner is,” Malempati said. “Like sure they’re living under a rock or whatever, but [everyone knows] what an egg is and like it’d be hella funny if an egg was the most liked picture on Instagram.”
According to a survey of 218 MVHS students, 59 percent have liked a picture posted by @world_record_egg and 52 percent liked the world record egg post before it broke the record. But how did this egg receive so many likes?
There are other accounts similar to @world_record_egg, including @samepictureofatoaster, which includes 326 posts of the same picture and has 82.4 thousand followers, showing that the trend of “meaningless” Instagram accounts is prevalent.
“They are what they are, but they don’t have much value to them,” Rohatgi said. “I guess when you come across an account like that, it’s kinda cool to see their devotion. I once came across an account that had over 500 posts of the same actor.”
McCuistion believes that the goal of beating the world record had allowed everybody to come together, which is why the post became so successful, setting this post apart from the other ‘meaningless’ accounts. The caption of the post stated: “Let’s set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram. Beating the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million)! We got this #LikeTheEgg #EggSoldiers #EggGang.”
“I think [it got so many likes] because it’s a world record that anybody can be a part of and help accomplish, and it’s really easy,” McCuistion said. “It’s just double tap. I think being a part of a world record is cool.”
Malempati agrees, explaining that whereas the post of the world record egg had a goal to reach, the accounts that post the same photo everyday are pointless and random.
“If you have the time to either like the same photo every day or post the same photo every day, then come on, just do something else with those 30 seconds,” Malempati said.
The egg soon gained even more attention when the account partnered with Hulu, a network that streams television series and movies, to bring an post service announcement during Super Bowl Sunday. In this video, the egg revealed, “Recently I’ve started to crack. The pressure of social media is getting to me. If you’re struggling too, talk to someone.” Then, the video provided a link redirecting to talkingegg.info, a website that provides links to various online mental health services for over 50 countries.
Other advertisers have also taken advantage of the viral egg. Curology, a customized skincare company, created an advertisement: Egg’s #curologyjourney. The short video featured the egg, who was trying to become an Instagram influencer, suffering from “acne” and feeling insecure about their skin until they found Curology. The advertisement proceeded to explain how the egg went through the Curology process, posted a “selfie” and received 50 million likes, which they owed to Curology.
According to Rohatgi, this was a smart move for advertisers to appeal to the younger generation and to use a platform that is becoming more prevalent for commercial use.
“I say it’s a good move on the advertisers part for taking advantage of pop culture or whatever is relevant because the world record egg is something that is very simplistic, but a lot of people know about it and it’s something people can possibly relate to if they saw it in an ad,” Rohatgi said.
