Wellington – New Zealanders have been stripping off and curling into a ball to resemble oven-ready chickens in the latest photographic trend to hit social media in the country.
The Frozen Chook page has almost 3 000 likes on Facebook, with users photographed on horseback, at the beach or skiing, with one in a library, another in a university classroom, and even outside a KFC fried chicken outlet.
“It’s as simple as stripping down, hitting the deck in a curled up foetal position, elbows in like the bird and bottom against your calves,” a spokesman for the page said.
“It really is surprising just how similar people look” to commercially available frozen poultry, he said.
Short video clips show one person crouching on the roof of a car as it slowly cruises past a police station, and another stripping off to pose outside a city bar.
Clutch #frozenchook for the peasents on the train
Posted by Frozenchook on Saturday, October 10, 2015
“You can do it almost anywhere; assuming you’re comfortable being slightly naked in public and don’t ‘chicken out’,” the spokesman said.
The trend was also taking off abroad, as Facebook users plucked up the courage to strip on a London underground train, outside a New York city baseball stadium and in front of Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia.
“We’ve seen a lot of trends pop up over the years, such as planking, owling and extreme selfies. They all have something in common – simplicity and doing the act in public locations – all of course with a camera,” the page’s spokesman said.
“As long as people are safe and respectful of the public, it’s all about having a laugh and not taking life so seriously.”
But some comments have been icy, with critics calling the trend featherbrained.
“Even when alive a chook has only a pea-sized brain,” one commentator posted on the Facebook page. “That says it all regarding the participants of this new New Zealand craze!”
dpa