Who doesn’t want their brand to become focus of viral TikTok videos? Well, Procter & Gamble Co. for one—at least when it comes to NyQuil’s role as an ingredient in a TikTok “Sleepy Chicken” challenge.
NyQuil marinated chicken cooked in a skillet burst into mainstream news coverage on Tuesday following a Food and Drug advisory posted six days ago not to cook chicken in NyQuil, for anyone who thought that might be a good idea.
The FDA said the ingredients can be concentrated into dangerous, potentially toxic fumes in the process, though it did not cite reports of injuries or deaths.
It’s far from a new phenomenon. The idea of cooking chicken in NyQuil actually goes back at least to 2017, as can be seen in this tweet.
But a clearly satirical video, in which a man cooks chicken in “4/3 bottle of NyQuil” and flips the meat with a hair straightener has generated more than 4 million views on TikTok since it surfaced in September 2021, according to a video on the “Know Your TikTok” YouTube channel.
For its part, NyQuil has been relatively mum on the subject, though the brand has been regularly tweeting replies to tweets, discouraging inappropriate use of the product, and encouraging use as directed on the label.
"At P&G, consumer safety is our number one priority, and we do not endorse any inappropriate use of our product," a spokeswoman said in an email. "NyQuil is an over-the-counter medication that treats nighttime symptoms of the common cold and flu. It should only be taken as directed using the dosage cup provided." That would be 30 mL over six hours for adults and children 12 and up, not to exceed four doses per 24 hours. She also directed people to the FAQ section of NyQuil's website.
P&G took a somewhat more active approach to combat a “Tide Pods Challenge” with videos encouraging people to put the toxic laundry pods into their mouths in late 2017 and early 2018. That included having NFL star Rob Gronkowski star in a video telling people not to do that. The challenge also led P&G at the last minute to swap in liquid Tide for a Tide Pods container in its 2018 Super Bowl ad.
A more active approach is probably a better idea, said Dan Rene, managing director of public relations and crisis communications firm Kglobal.
“I’m a big fan of being proactive,” Rene said, “because when you’re reactive and defensive, people will assume you have something to be defensive about.”
This is not a case where all publicity is good publicity, Rene said, and company statements—even stating the obvious about not using NyQuil as a cooking ingredient in response to an obvious social media trend—could help.
“You’re taking away the question of what can you do about this?” Rene said. “Because people aren’t necessarily going to be pointing fingers at the FDA. People are going to be pointing fingers at the product and the brand.”
The NyQuil chicken challenge, while buzzy now, had a smaller wave of publicity in January, including a segment on NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." But the subject got considerably more media coverage on CNN and elsewhere on Tuesday and became a Twitter trending topic.
TikTok has had warning screens for people searching for the #sleepychicken hashtag at least since January, and currently has a “Your Safety Matters” screen blocking access to videos from the search. But videos are still readily found there or on YouTube by searching on NyQuil, or NyQuil and chicken.
This story has been updated with a statement from P&G.
