Planking: a global trend where individuals lie on their stomachs, on just about any surface, pretending to be a plank of wood.
Chaos spread across Twitter on Tuesday as news broke that Philippine government representative Winston Castelo had filed a bill called the “Anti-Planking Act of 2011”.
“Parents and teachers have reason to be alarmed;” he said, “bus drivers and law enforcement authorities might just ram through these warm and living bodies rolled out on highways, as if they were offerings to the Gods.”
The congressman began seeking to ban planking after a group of students disrupted traffic in Manila on Monday.
Furious Twitter user @thetonguewizard said: “The Anti-planking Act of 2011 has to be without a doubt the most ridiculous law ever made!”
Not all are outraged though, with another user @oliviaFAILS managing to make a light-hearted joke amidst the heartbreak of never being able to plank in public again: “Anti-planking Act of 2011? Well they’re certainly laying down the law here, aren’t they?”
Whilst planking has been fatal in some cases, in general it is not particularly dangerous – and enthusiasts of planking are not taking this anti-planking law issue lying down.
By Ella Delancey
