A man who stood up to a potentially dangerous internet drinking craze has won fame online, saying the increasingly risky game has gotten 'out of hand'.
'Neck and nominate', AKA 'NekNomination', is a simple but brutal - and potentially dangerous - drinking game, organised via social media. In the game, one drinker films themselves 'necking' a drink, and nominates two people to do 'better'. Who then do the same, and so on - and so on.
The issue is that as the game progresses, the stunts performed get even more outrageous, disgusting and theoretically even lethal.
In one example, noted by the Plymouth Herald, a man filmed himself drinking a pint of vodka, a pint of mouthwash, eating a raw egg and snorting protein powder.
There is also a Twitter account collecting tales of people who have participated:
The 'craze' has even been blamed for some deaths, most recently after a man in Dublin was found dead after having apparently been involved in the game -- though police were still investigating.
But now one man has stood up to the game - and won the support of thousands.
Ashley Abernethie was 'nominated' on Facebook to participate, but instead posted a video in which he said "cheers for the nomination. To be honest I've seen it all now on the internet."
"I am not one for not getting involved, but its now getting a bit out of hand and for me to be able to do anything that’s going to create lots of likes, I’ll have to do something that’s probably going to hurt me," he says, before drinking a coffee and going to work.
His post has now been shared more than 10,000 times on the site, and liked by 45,000 people.
A spokesman for Alcohol Action told the Mirror that drinking large amounts of alcohol in a short time could be very dangerous:
"While some may see this as a game, the consequences of drinking large volumes of alcohol in a short period of time can have very real consequences for those taking part.
We would call on people to look after their health and well-being by not participating in this ‘game’ and to protect their friends from the serious risks associated with it by not nominating them to take part."