When internet memes really take off—the Harlem Shake, the Ice Bucket Challenge, and the planking craze—it seems like everyone who’s anyone gets in on the action. Sometimes, even presidential candidates join in the fun.
The latest online phenomenon, the #MannequinChallenge, is a viral video sensation where groups of people–mostly teenagers—hold elaborate poses in the classroom, sports field, locker room, or really anywhere else that an every day scenario plays out. They’re captured by one cameraman who weaves their way through the frozen crowd.
The day before election night, democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton added her own twist to the trend.
On her campaign jet, Clinton and her crew are seen frozen mid-motion. There’s a woman with a half-opened pizza boxes, two men high-fiving, Bill Clinton smiling from ear-to-ear, and Huma Abedin staring down at the floor. Toward the end of the video, the cameraman reaches Hillary Clinton, standing across from music legend Jon Bon Jovi, who is frozen with a guitar in hand.
The tweet had over 21,000 retweets and over 31,000 likes by the morning of election day.
Clinton has done a pretty good job impressing internet-savvy younger voters: Her app was far better than any seen during previous election cycles. Using the wayback machine on her website was a clever way to show how much more she’d done for public service than Republican candidate Donald Trump. Clinton sportingly appeared on comedian Zach Galifianakis’s talk show Between Two Ferns. Her shoulder shimmy during the first US presidential debate was the basis of multiple GIFs and memes, and it was even turned into a song that became a sort of election anthem. And she’s also kept up with the selfie trend while touring America.
Clinton’s focus on on millennials seems to have worked: they show record support for her.
While most of the #MannequinChallenge videos have the song “Black Beatles” by rapper duo Rae Sremmurd as their background score, Clinton’s version is quiet instead. The video of people doing nothing in dead silence serves as a metaphor: Clinton is telling everyone that there’s plenty of time to stand still, but there’s only one day to vote.
The video ends with everyone breaking away from the poses and laughing. An important message floats across the screen: “Don’t stand still. Vote.”