Instagram egg that beat Kylie Jenner's 'most liked' record revealed as mental health ad

A single, unremarkable egg recently beat Kylie Jenner’s record for the most-liked Instagram post of all time.

The true message of the egg – which fans call Eugene – was revealed at the 2019 Super Bowl last night– and there’s a lot more to it than just the viral joke it was taken for.

In an advert broadcast on US streaming platform Hulu, the egg was framed as an emblem for those struggling with mental health battles.

To give context, the now-famous egg post, posted by Instagram user Egg Gang (in reality, a 29-year-old advertising creative named Chris Godfrey) on 4 January, earned a record breaking 24.5 million likes.

Entrepreneur and reality star Jenner had previously held the top spot, garnering some 18 million likes.

In recent weeks, Egg Gang has posted further pictures of the egg, with slight cracks appearing in each successive image.

In the last, it promised to reveal all at the Super Bowl.

A 30-second Hulu advert, which was circulated around the Super Bowl, shows the egg cracking into pieces.

A voiceover, pegged as coming from the egg, says: “Recently I’ve started to crack… the pressure of social media is getting to me.”

“If you’re struggling too, talk to someone,” adds the voiceover, before the shell starts to come back together again. It

It then provides a link to the Mental Health America website.

The egg concept has since been revealed as the brainchild of 29-year-old advertising creative Chris Godfrey, who works at The & Partnership in London.

Quizzed on his decision to use an egg for this campaign, he told The New York Times: “An egg has no gender, race or religion. An egg is an egg, it’s universal.”

While Instagram was fundamental in launching this mental health awareness campaign, the platform recently received criticism surrounding the same issues.

Last month, the heartbroken dad of a schoolgirl who took her life accused Instagram of playing a part in her death.

Grieving Ian Russell revealed to the BBC that he believed 14-year-old Molly died after viewing images glorifying self-harm and suicide on the social media site.

But Instagram has responded to the accusations saying they don’t allow content that glorifies self-harm or suicide.

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