What is the Mannequin Challenge?

Warning: Once you know, you'll never want to move again

If you’ve been into a shop lately and have had the eerie feeling that you’ve just stumbled into a game of musical statues – don’t be alarmed. But, you sort of, have. Well, ok, not so much that game, but you’ve definitely walked into a situation where everyone is pretending like they’re made out of plastic. Welcome to the mannequin challenge.

This latest craze that's sweeping Instagram is seeing people take videos of themselves in situations where they're pretending to be mannequins. You know, like the ones you see in the windows of shops. As with most things that trend in social media, it started in US schools a few months ago. And eventually, celebrities started joining in, and well, now it's viral - a challenge that ironically, isn't standing still.

But people are. Because that's literally all you have to do to be part of this challenge. Stand, sit or pose, still.

And while most trends are fleeting, we have a feeling this one will stick around. Simply because it looks cool AF. The effect is something akin to walking through a movie that someone has paused. People admire shoes from a rack above, others hold animated facial expressions while mid conversation, some are even caught mid getting dressed. And celebrities are jumping on board too, with the likes of Beyonce, Kevin Hart, Paul McCartney and Hillary Clinton, showing they have serious levels of chill.

Fundamentally, there's no real challenge. You don't win anything (apart from maybe a few more followers on Instagram) and there's no charity involvement like the Ice Bucket challenge. But it's fun. Like, really fun. And at the end of the day, is there a better excuse to do something?

Here are a few of our favourite posts from the mannequin challenge: