Man who posted the most liked Instagram photo of all time said it was a ‘fluke’

The bloke who posted the most liked Instagram photo of all time said it was a ‘fluke’.

Nowadays, TikToks and Reels might be the way users try and rack up attention – from us ordinary lot to influencers and to celebrities.

But only a couple of years ago, photos on Instagram were still the main grabbers with the Kardashian/Jenner clan reigning supreme on social media.

Snaps posted by the sisters would often rack up millions of likes (and still do of course) but this man wanted to change that.

Instead of posting the type of thing the women might have to get likes (you know, bikini pics, outfit snaps, family selfies… the list goes on) he went with something a little simpler.

Well, a whole lot simpler – simple to the point it was rather rogue.

Chris Godfrey/Linkedin

Kylie Jenner had smashed the Instagram record in 2018 for the most-liked post when she shared a snap of her new-born baby Stormi’s tiny hand holding her thumb.

It went on to get almost 19 million likes.

But this was all set to change the following year thanks to the genius thinking of Chris Godfrey, Londoner advertising executive, and his pals Alissa Khan-Whelan and CJ Brown.

After noticing the record-breaking feat, they hatched a plan to see if they could knock Kylie off the podium. And they were going to do so with nothing but a picture of an egg.

Yep, you remember the famous egg?

Nothing else - no frills or surprises. Just an egg against a white background.

Alongside they wrote: "Let’s set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram. Beating the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million)! We got this."

To everyone's surprise, it worked - soon enough, the picture rose to online fame and quickly toppled her from the top spot.

At the time, the egg received 19 million likes, soon jumping to over 50 million.

But it doesn't end there. Shortly after the first image, two more photos appeared on the same account showing the famous egg cracking.

This caused a little confusion and days after the mysterious posts, it turned the egg was cracking under the weight of pressure from social media fame and it was all part of a publicity campaign for Mental Health America.

In an advert aired during the 2019 Super Bowl on Hulu, the egg (complete with a little face and everything) said: "I'm the world record egg (you may have heard of me).

Instagram/@world_record_egg

"Recently I've started to crack. The pressure of social media is getting to me."

It added: "If you're struggling too, talk to someone. We got this," before highlighting the contact details.

Back in 2019, Chris - who was 29 years old at the time - spoke to The New York Times about the stunt and how it went on to become a viral sensation.

Prior to this, Andrew Essex, chief executive and founder of Plan A, a creative holding company, told the outlet: "The fact that they were able to get a lot of people to look at a picture of the egg - it was the ultimate anomaly, just a complete freak event."

He added: "This is the quintessential fluke. It’s not replicable. It’s not replicable and it’s not sustainable. With all due respect."

Although Chris agreed with the statement, he said: "But it’s a fluke that caught the world’s attention. It’s what you do with that attention that counts."

Cracking stuff.

Topics: Instagram, Kylie Jenner, Viral, Kardashians, Social Media

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_