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The latest viral trend to sweep the internet was a very wholesome one indeed.
Over the last few days, millions have posted images of their pets to their Instagram stories believing that each image will lead to a tree being planted (spoiler alert: it appears unlikely, unfortunately).
More than 2.5 million people participated in the trend by sharing pictures of their furry, scaly, or feathered friends. By clicking the sticker, users are able to swipe through people’s stories to see their animals. The sticker reads: “We’ll plant 1 tree for every pet picture” along with a dog emoji.
However, it doesn’t say who exactly “we” are as the sticker doesn’t link to a campaign website or even to another Instagram profile.
One account, called Plant A Tree Co. (@plantatreeco), has since come forward, claiming to be responsible for the trend. The company claimed it didn’t realise how viral their post would get and admitted they didn’t have the resources to plant the millions of trees so deleted the original post 10 minutes later - hence why the trend appeared nameless.
In an explanation post, they wrote: “Thank you for sharing your pets, they’re adorable.
“We posted the new “Add Yours” story as a fun tree planting campaign where we can show off our awesome pets! We immediately realized the post would grow too big and that we didn’t have the resources to plant that many trees, so we deleted it 10 minutes later.”
They added that they were still supporting the fundraiser: “Even though we deleted it, the stories continued to spread out of our control. Our credit for the post was also removed, because of what seems like an @instagram bug. We want to use this awareness for lasting impact, so we created this fundraiser.
“Please share this post and the fundraiser on your story, and tag all your friends, celebrities, and @instagram so they can see this and so we can ACTUALLY plant 4 million trees.”
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Despite the apparent explanation, the confusion surrounding how the trend started led to some sharing jokes and memes on other social media platforms to poke fun at the viral sticker:
The Instagram sticker responsible for planting 2+ million trees when asked who what why where when https://t.co/osBtTTk8KC— R (@R) 1636396585
Instagram after promising “We’ll plant 1 tree for every pet picture 🐶” https://t.co/Hc58AsctQT— Tony (@Tony) 1636408226
Instagram locals when they figure out they won’t be planting a tree from posting their cat https://t.co/jzAaTpjvfI— saggi moon (@saggi moon) 1636419958
That guy off Instagram walking into the garden centre tomorrow asking for 8.3 million trees https://t.co/2uqIZwAm24— Big Bang Theory Funniest Moments (@Big Bang Theory Funniest Moments) 1636411081
The creators of that Instagram sticker now everyone has posted a pic of their pet and they have to find somewhere t… https://t.co/VyyWv8XMNu— Harrison Brocklehurst (@Harrison Brocklehurst) 1636396404
"We'll plant a tree if you post a picture of your mother's maiden name and the sports team you support"— Rob O'Hanrahan (@Rob O'Hanrahan) 1636398007
i hope the amount of trees they plant from that instagram story tag saves the planet because if i have to see one m… https://t.co/pLEQBfRIpj— joe (@joe) 1636385388
The guy that started that pet Instagram Story trend when he finds out how many trees he’s got to plant https://t.co/2ms9Kyxi1V— Rhys Callow (@Rhys Callow) 1636400609
whatever company that started the pet trend on instagram logging on and finding out they have to plant 3 million tr… https://t.co/YNsx8V0fzQ— Eoin Ó Catháin (@Eoin Ó Catháin) 1636404399
the world after that one person plants a tree for every pet posted on instagram stories https://t.co/fZbmJKgGJR— david (@david) 1636345075
If I find out I’ve shared a picture of my dog on Instagram, and that person doesn’t end up planting a tree... https://t.co/5ARO5tCWMc— Jonny Meah (@Jonny Meah) 1636410455
Some felt as though the trend harked back to the earlier days of the internet. Remember those “copy and paste or else” Facebook statuses from the late noughties, or chain letters?
One Twitter user pointed out that the trend has a serious pong of those “one like equals one prayer” posts we typically see on our timelines.
Instagram has been fully infiltrated by the facebooks ma’s now- 1 like = 1 tree— Jacob (@Jacob) 1636398732
The ‘we’ll plant 1 tree for every pet photo’ Instagram thing has real ‘viral Facebook posts circa 2007’ energy to it.— Stephen McNeice (@Stephen McNeice) 1636408501
Anyone else having their Instagram inundated with “We'll plant 1 tree for every pet picture🐶” stories? Feels a lot… https://t.co/iywa6df1Yn— Lachlan Sands (@Lachlan Sands) 1636346167
Meanwhile some didn’t understand why the trend was needed and argued that people should plant trees themselves, while also adding their skepticism at the idea millions of trees would be planted as a result of pet pictures. (Considering the alleged creators Plant A Tree Co. had to delete the original post ten minutes in due to the overwhelming response, they would be correct).
Magician Matt Tarrant suggested that instead of waiting for an anonymous Instagram account to plant a tree for you, there’s nothing stopping you from doing it yourself:
If you want to plant a tree and help the environment, I reckon just do it; rather than hope that some anonymous acc… https://t.co/wFRt5agHO3— Matt Tarrant (@Matt Tarrant) 1636340628
I mean I think the new Instagram Story function is neat & your pets look fun, but who is the original user that is… https://t.co/FZ5IudrXm8— Jonny Bunning (@Jonny Bunning) 1636409448
Nobody is planting a tree because you’ve lobbed your dog up on Instagram— Matt Cooper (@Matt Cooper) 1636398686
Would it not make more sense to go out and plant a tree yourself and post that then posting a photo of your dog on Instagram 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️— Billy Courtney (@Billy Courtney) 1636403244
Some just enjoyed the pet spam for what it was:
Really enjoying this “we’ll plant 1 tree for every pet picture” thing on Instagram, v good v wholesome 10/10 content— Laura (@Laura) 1636385041
Even if this mysterious tree planter doesn’t exist, all in all hasn’t it been a lovely day to be on Instagram— Sarah (@Sarah) 1636414192
Not 1 single tree will be planted because of it but everyone's stories on Instagram with pics of their doggos is pure class 🐶😂— Paul Redmond (@Paul Redmond) 1636405093
The trend also inspired several skits and reactions on TikTok:
@nikkithechameleon This is a logistical nightmare I do not envy the IG team organising this lol #fyp #instagram #plantatree #trending #comedy #pov #aussie
@ben.hogan Booked and most certainly busy #plantatree #australia #instagram
@zeefeed.com.au OKAY BUT SERIOUSLY WHO GONNA PLANT ALL THOSE TREES #instagramstories #instagramtree #planttrees #criticalthinking #instagram
‘Add Yours’ stickers show the original author when you tap on them, except in some cases, including when the author removes their handle as the designated author or deletes the original post.
A Meta spokesman said: “The ‘we’ll plant one tree for every pet picture’ trend shows the power of the Instagram community to raise awareness on important topics. Like all other ‘Add Yours’ sticker threads, it was started by an independent Instagram account – not Instagram.”
Indy100 has reached out to Plant A Tree Co. for comment.
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