What is the 'Tortilla Slap Challenge' on TikTok? Everything to know about the viral trend

TikTok has become home to yet another bizarre but hilarious challenge that involves squandering tortillas for a few laughs. The words 'TikTok' and 'tortilla' together might conjure up an image of the viral tortilla wrap hack from 2021, but the Mexican flatbread is causing a stir for a different reason this time.

The 'Tortilla Slap Challenge' has taken the social media platform by storm and gone viral. The hashtag #tortillachallenge comprises thousands of videos and has amassed over 102.9 million views.

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TikTokers partake in the 'Tortilla Slap Challenge'

TikTok's latest challenge may appear perplexing to viewers at first glance. Most videos of the challenge feature a group of two or three, occasionally more, people standing or sitting in a circle with tortillas in their hands.

Although the challenge favors flour tortillas, corn tortillas would also do well. The only caveat might be that flour tortillas have a more sturdy structure, making them perfect for the heavy-handed slapping that is an integral part of this game.

The game doesn't have many steadfast rules apart from slapping the other participants across the face with the tortillas. One of the most popular variations of the challenge involves people playing rock-paper-scissors to determine who gets to wield the tortilla. At the same time, another sees people fill their mouths with water before initiating the game.

The "challenge" behind this popular TikTok craze is to keep a straight face when each member of the group slaps each other across the face with their tortillas. If players laugh or scream at being hit, they lose the challenge. Filling one's mouth with water ups the ante as the opponent runs the risk of getting a face full of water if the one being slapped breaks.

Viewers find it satisfying to watch each person attempt to retain their cool after a solid slap, but it's not as enjoyable as watching them crack. When one person falls, the rest of the group follows almost inevitably, resulting in many clips culminating in hysterical laughter.

It's a straightforward recipe for virality, and unlike other prevalent TikTok viral challenges, it poses no threat to its players. One of the distinctive factors of the challenge is the silence in the videos. It is a refreshing breather from the constant overstimulation of audios and songs that dominate the app.

The 'Tortilla Slap Challenge' has also spawned a few spin-offs, the most popular created by the account @sarahxdarrio. The influencer couple came up with a musical twist to the challenge: one gets a tortilla to the face if they fail to sing an appropriate song within five seconds. The songs are determined by a filter that prompts users with a word. This word must be incorporated into the song that players choose.

The challenge first went viral in 2021, riffing off the 'Fact or Slap' trend. In this variation, the players ask each other questions about each other. Whenever a player fails to answer correctly, they get slapped by the tortilla. Top videos from the trend have garnered millions of views, proving to be highly entertaining for users of the short-video platform.