Planking Claims its First Victim

By James Sheldon on May 16th, 2011

Are you familiar with planking? It’s a growing trend on Facebook, especially in Australia.

Basically, you lie face down in daring, compromising or humorous positions, and someone snaps a picture as you’re stiff like a board–planking. You post the picture online and the planking crowd gives you props. Yep. Sounds stupid to me, too. But it’s always great to be part of something that requires little to no effort–that way you’re ensured that your investment in the activity stays nice and surface level.

This weekend, Acton Beale, a 20 year old from Brisbane, Australia, decided he would score a stellar plank on a 5 cm wide (yes, centimeters) railing on his 7th story balcony. After slipping and losing his balance, he plunged the seven stories to his death. The friend who would have taken the picture let police know that Mr. Beale had been drinking–which is no surprise, but most likely resulted in a fatal consequence.

Australian officials, including the Prime Minister, expressed concern about planking, but also understand that at its essence, it is a harmless activity. They’re all for people enjoying themselves in Oz, so long as it’s only a few feet off the ground or in humorous places.

If you’re wondering when planking is going to catch on in United States? I’m sure it will become the next here and gone fad, starting on the coasts, and socially gravitating inland. If I were a betting man, I would probably put money on the fact that this won’t be the first death associated with planking. If there’s one thing that Americans excel in, it’s excess.