Normally, when an egg cracks open, the animal inside is the main attraction. But the Instagram egg most famous for beating Kylie Jenner's most-liked post and baffling people was always the main attraction itself, and on Sunday, it was revealed that the egg could be you. At least in this iteration.
In a 30-second Hulu video that aired after Sunday's Super Bowl LIII, the egg — dubbed Eugene by its creator, British ad creative Chris Godfrey — cracks and falls apart. "Recently I've started to crack," the egg says in a caption. "The pressure of social media is getting to me. If you're struggling too, talk to someone," pointing to a link for Mental Health America, a 110-year-old nonprofit that advocates for mental health awareness.
The egg was not created to promote mental heath awareness or warn about social media use, however. Godfrey, 29, and the two friends who helped him created the Instagram egg phenomenon — Alissa Khan-Whelan, 26, and C.J. Brown, 29 — tell The New York Times they will use their viral creation to promote other causes in the future. "People have fallen in love with this egg, and Eugene the egg wants to continue to spread positive messages," Khan-Whelan said. Hulu paid the team for use of the egg, and Eugene is now a valuable commodity — Khan-Whelan said the reported $10 million valuation for partnering with the egg was "greatly exaggerated."
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Why an egg? "An egg has no gender, race, or religion," Godfrey told the Times. "An egg is an egg, it's universal." You can read more about the Instagram egg's origin story at The New York Times, watch its 30-second TV debut at Hulu, or you can watch it below. Peter Weber
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