Planking : A New Trend

PLANKING is an activity, popular in Asia and Australia, consisting of lying face down in an unusual or incongruous location. The hands must touch the sides of the body, and having a photograph of the participant taken and posted on the Internet is an integral part of the game. Players compete to find the most unusual and original location in which to play. The location should also be as public as possible, and as many people as possible should be involved.

On 29 May 2011, Max Key, son of New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, uploaded a photograph to Facebook of himself planking on a lounge suite, his father standing behind him. After the photograph was reproduced on the front page of the New Zealand Herald two days later, the Prime Minister's office initially declined comment, but later that day, confirming that the photograph was indeed genuine, Mr. Key remarked that he doesn't see anything wrong with planking when done safely, and that it was he who had actually introduced Max to planking in the first place, having seen a video of the phenomenon on YouTube.