Necking-it-down beer-drinking videos take turn for bad and good
Kathryn Kimberley
FROM Western Australia to the Eastern Cape, videos of men daring each other to down beer have taken Facebook by storm.
The videos, with the hashtag NekNomination, is a game in which people are filmed downing their drink before nominating others to do the same within 24 hours.
Frequently, friends from abroad are nominated, which is how the fad spread so quickly around the world.
And be it downing a drink from a cowboy hat or riding a horse while knocking one back, with each video participants have found quirky ways to market their clips, in some instances putting their own lives in danger.
According to Irish media reports, Jonny Byrne, 19, from Carlow, drowned after downing his drink and then diving into a river. The game is also believed to be responsible for the death of Dublin DJ Ross Cummins, 22, who was filmed downing copious amounts of spirits at a house party.
But for most Eastern Capers who have joined the online fad, NekNominations are simply a fun way to interact with friends.
Port Elizabeth-born Neall de Beer's videos have become so popular he has been nominated four times. His latest video was recorded at a swimming pool in Malaysia where he works.
De Beer, 31, can be seen lounging at the pool, bobbing his head to music. He then cracks open a beer, downs it and nominates two friends.
Although popular Port Elizabeth musician Wayne Kallis missed his 24-hour deadline, he filmed his video at gym at 9am on Saturday. "I had to go to gym anyway so I figured dumbbells and dumb beers made an interesting combination," he said.
"I got involved because I was nominated and the videos have become increasingly creative and funny and I thought it would be fun to see if I could make people laugh with mine. I know people are getting sick of these things but people are grumpy in general so I don't care."
Kallis, 34, was nominated by Mark Doward, who can be seen downing his beer from behind the bar of The Music Kitchen in Newton Park.
Yandi Mini, 24, of Grahamstown, who was nominated by a friend in Western Australia, struggled to down his beer while sexy Hooters waitresses in Johannesburg cheered him on.
But while the videos have no real point, Brent Lindeque, from Johannesburg, decided to do something a bit different when he was nominated.
In his video Lindeque is filmed driving and talking to the camera, thanking his friend for nominating him. "[The craze] originated from Australia and I'm going to show you how South Africans do it better," he tells the camera.
As facts about poverty in South Africa appear on the screen, Lindeque hands a homeless man a sandwich, a chocolate and cooldrink. He then nominates two of his friends to do the same. His video has received more than 10000 views.
Underneath his video he wrote: "Downing a can of Castle Light is easy ... imagine if we all harnessed the power of social media to make a real difference in people's lives. #OnlyGoodThings."
