West African giraffe image via Wikimedia Commons
Facebook users wondering why their friends are using photos of giraffes as their profile photos need wonder no more: It’s all part of a meme that requires the participant to use a giraffe photo if they answer a riddle incorrectly.
The meme, which has come to be known as ‘The Great Giraffe Challenge’, invites Facebook users to share a riddle with their friends. Friends who respond to the riddle must send their answer to the user via private message. Any friend who responds to the riddle incorrectly must then use a photo of a giraffe as their Facebook profile photo.
The reason why a photo of a giraffe in particular is required remains a mystery.
The riddle being used in the meme, however, is clearer:
It’s 3am. The doorbell rings and you wake up. Unexpected visitors. It’s your parents and they are there for breakfast. You have strawberry jam, honey, wine, bread and cheese. What is the first thing you open?
Some Facebook users have been arguing about what is actually the riddle’s correct answer (spoiler alert: the link is to an article that contains the answer to the riddle).
The Mirror reported that the meme stemmed from New Zealand vlogger Andrew Strugnell, who set up the riddle in a YouTube video.
In the video, Strugnell asked viewers to message him on Facebook with the answer to the riddle, and it all took off from there.
