Pickle juice, tuna fish, salsa, hot sauce … and a beer? A month ago this might have appeared as a weird and gross combination, but “Neck and Nominate,” has made it acceptable, if not awesome. Neck and Nominate, also known as “Eknominate”, “Eknomination”, or “Neck Nomination”, is the social media drinking game that has been entertaining college students all over Facebook and YouTube.
If you’re just learning about this drinking phenomenon, here are the rules: If you’re nominated to drink, you have 24 hours to do it and post a video (pics or it didn’t happen?), and the goal is to outdo whoever nominated you.
We spoke to a few Fairfield guys around campus who participated in Neck and Nomination, and asked for some tips. If you’re planning on joining in on the challenge that’s sweeping campus and the globe, we want to make sure you keep it funny but most importantly safe!
DON’T: Overdo it with alcohol by mixing and chugging several types. The purpose of this game is to laugh and make others laugh, and there’s nothing funny about putting your body in danger.DO: Team up with a friend and do something wild together that doesn’t include a large amount of alcohol. Juniors Brendan O’Malley and Tom Balanda got pepper sprayed (ouch!) before chugging a beer each. Although we don’t recommend the pepper spray, we do condone just one beer. Brendan said, “I can understand how the game can take a turn for the worse with everyone trying to one up each other with the amounts of alcohol, but there’s certainly plenty of other ways to make a memorable nomination.” Brendan and Tom got to do something crazy and funny, without overdoing it.
DON’T: Embarrass yourself. Before you upload your video to Facebook or YouTube think: Do I want the world to have access to this?DO: Make it funny while keeping it tasteful (poor choice of a word). Although it may seem like there’s no way of keeping it appropriate, you can do it by mixing your beverage with your favorite condiments like junior Ryan Perkins did. He had a Guinness, Smirnoff, peanut butter, Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce, Montreal Chicken Seasoning, and Montreal Steak Seasoning. Ryan said, “people like trying to make a funny or gross video, where people talk about it and are surprised you could do that.” If people are going to talk about your video make sure they can laugh with you, not at you!
DON’T: Go to the extreme (like a dead mouse, engine oil, or insects).DO: Pick a theme. If you want to add some extra flavoring to your beer, go for it. Junior Kyle McManus went with a post workout themed drink for his nomination which included a beer, protein powder, a shot of wheat grass, and ranch dressing. He said, “for the nominations you can either make something funny or drink something gross, I sort of did a little bit of both.” Kyle’s drink was certainly funny, and without a doubt gross, but not harmful. Stick to something like this!
DON’T: Lose sight of what it’s supposed to be about. There’s no reason to pressure your friends, or put yourself or anyone else in danger. DO: Have fun and think outside of the box. Senior Liam Josephson who drank a combination of beer, salsas, hot sauce, and guacamole from Chipotle for his challenge doesn’t think that this has to be a dangerous activity. “It’s just a funny thing to do with your friends, something to make people laugh,” he said. We agree, Liam!
We can’t prevent you from participating in “Neck and Nominate”, and we hope that these tips help you to have fun while staying safe. If you ever feel like you need additional assistance, call 911 or the Department of Public Safety at (203)-254-4090.