Could the Twizzler be the new Ice Bucket Challenge?

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was undoubtedly the social media phenomenon of last summer; helping to raise tens of millions of pounds for motor neurone disease charities.

Now that things are a bit colder outside, the appetite for throwing freezing water over one's head appears to have died down, but philanthropic public sentiment clearly hasn't.

Enter then, the Twizzler Challenge. In order to raise awareness and money for autism charities in the US, the challenge involves two people going Lady and the Tramp-style on a string of liquorice.

Which inevitably ends with an awkward kiss as the participants try to break the string:

The trend was started when Bleacher Report journalist Fred Katz challenged Today show host Willie Geist to do the stunt with Orange is the New Black star Uzo Aduba on the Comedy Central show Night of Too Many Stars: America Comes Together for Autism.

Geist then undertook the challenge again on the Meredith Vieira show at the weekend where he was a guest, before challenging other television personalities to do the same.

Meredith Vieira kicked things off by donating $5,000 (£3,400) to New York Collaborates For Autism and now the trend appears to be growing under the hashtag #TwizzlerChallenge:

You have been warned...

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