About
Sellotape Selfies is a photo fad in which individuals take pictures of themselves after wrapping their faces in adhesive tape as to appear grotesque in a contorted and squished manner. Each Sellotape selfie is then uploaded to Facebook with an invitation for a friend to take one, in the same style as neknominate.
Origin
On March 19th, 2014, Brighton University student Lizzie Durley created the Facebook[2] page “Sellotape Selfie.” Durley explained to The Daily Mail[1] that she got the idea from a scene from the 2008 film Yes Man in which the character of Carl Allen, a bank loan officer-turned-robber played by Jim Carrey, wraps and distorts his face with clear tape as to avoid being recognized. The Facebook page gained over 50,000 likes within five hours.
Spread
On March 20th, Durley’s selfie Facebook page was picked up by the Mirror[3], E!Online[4], and The Huffington Post[5] among others, with many of the articles describing the phenomenon as the latest unpleasant social media craze. On the following day, Karl Stefanovic, host of the Australian morning show Today, wrapped entertainment reporter Richard Wilkins’ face in tape on the show. He then took a picture of Wikins’ and himself and tweeted it:
The dickie selfie pic.twitter.com/OVBwautHko
— Karl Stefanovic (@karlstefanovic) March 20, 2014
The trend has caught on among British and Australian users on Facebook and Twitter, with Durley’s page earning more than 120,000 likes and the hashtag #sellotapeselfies[6] mentioned over 5,700 times in less than 72 hours.
Notable Examples
Search Interest
[not available yet]
External References
[1]The Daily Mail – ‘Sellotape selfies’ – or sellofies! – go viral: Now people are wrapping faces in clear tape until they resemble grotesque ogres
[2]Facebook – Sellotape Selfie
[3]Mirror – New craze of “Sellotape selfies” as people wrap their faces with clear tape for grotesque pictures
[4]E! Online – Sellotape Selfie Is the Most Horrifying and Delightful Photo Competition Ever
[5]The Huffington Post – Sellotape Selfies Are So Hot Right Now
[6]Topsy – #sellotapeselfies