Challenge comes in all shapes and sizes. And thanks to the internet, brands are making use of it to introduce "challenges" as part of their marketing campaign.
And Paqui is just one of the many brands that challenge consumers into doing something, and make them spread the words.
In this case, Paqui is known for its 'One Chip Challenge', where participants must eat one extremely spicy chip, and avoid eating or drinking anything afterwards.
The challenge has been tried by celebrities and social media personalities, and was particularly popular due to how spicy the chips are.
While the challenge has been criticized for more than many times, the challenge, which has been promoted by Amplify Snack Brands since 2016, continued making fame due to the number of people attempting to partake the challenge.
But 2023 marks the end of it.
This is because for the first time ever, the challenge has taken someone's life.
14-year-old Massachusetts citizen, Harris Wolobah, passed away after eating the spicy chip for a social media challenge.
According to his mother, Lois Wolobah, she received a call from the school nurse at Doherty Memorial High School that day and was told that her son had fainted after eating the chip. The high school sophomore was picked up from school and by 4:30 p.m. family members, who then took Harris to a nearby hospital.
Harris never recovered, and he was pronounced dead on the same day he took the challenge.
"I pray to God that no parent goes through what I'm going through," Lois said. "I don't want to see anybody hurting the way I'm hurting. I miss my son so much, I miss him so much."
Responding to the tragedy, Paqui expressed its condolences.
"We are deeply saddened by the death of Harris Wolobah and express our condolences to the family," the company said.
Because of this, the chips are then banned in many retail stores.
This led to withdrawal the all One Chip Challenge chips from sale, forcing Paqui to also stop the publicity for the challenge.
In an update to its website, Paqui in all capital letters:
We have seen an increase in teens and other individuals not heeding these warnings. As a result, while the product continues to adhere to food safety standards, out of an abundance of caution, we are actively working with our retailers to remove the product from shelves.
We are also offering refunds on our single-serve One Chip Challenge product."
For years, social media challenges have been becoming increasingly popular.
Some are more unique or challenging than others, and out of the many, Paqui's One Chip Challenge involved eating one single spicy tortilla chip. Paqui was so serious in marketing the spicy chip by only selling one chip per package for this challenge.
In 2021, the One Chip Challenge was a red chip, and in the 2022 challenge, the chip was blue. In 2023, the chip is green, and comes with an even spicier taste.
The challenge is to eat the single hot tortilla chip and see how long you can last before eating or drinking anything else.
Those who partook the challenge are encouraged to post their reaction on social media with #onechipchallenge, and a mention to @paquichips.
For 2023, the chips are laced with both Carolina Reaper Pepper and the Naga Viper Pepper, both of which are some of the hottest peppers in the world.
"We do not have an official Scoville rating for the chip itself, however the seasoning used in the chip contains two of the hottest peppers currently available. Carolina Reaper Peppers, which are around 1.7 million Scoville Units and Naga Viper Pepper which around 1.4 million Scoville Units," said Paqui on its website.
According to Paqui, those who ate the chip and managed to not eat or drink for an hour is considered "invincible," whereas those who could only last one minute are considered "powerless.”
While eating spicy food isn't actually deadly, the spicier the food, the more 'capsaicin' it contains.
As an active component of chili peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus Capsicum, the chemical is considered an irritant and neurotoxin for mammals and because of that, consuming too much of it will cause someone to feel pain and a burning sensation along their digestive system. And in rare cases, it can also cause seizures and heart attacks.