Obituary

Planking was the art of lying rigid and face-down in improbable locations: on escalators, on car roofs, on the edge of balconies. It required zero skill, which was precisely the point, and precisely why the internet loved it. It died in 2011, the same year it was born, when a man planked on a seventh-floor balcony railing and did not survive the photo. The internet, for once, stopped. The meme has been at rest ever since.

Born

2011

Died

2011

Cause of death

Died lying down

Last sighting

A balcony railing, May 2011

Resting place

Section G, Row 1 — flat plot

Category

challenge