Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Chona Challenge: hopping out of moving vehicle and dancing is all the craze

A wacky — and dangerous — viral dance phenomenon that first took off in the United States has hit Mexico, with a Latin twist.

In late June, a video challenge in which people act out the lyrics to the song In My Feelings by Canadian artist Drake went viral.

Some participants started jumping out of their moving cars while singing or miming the lyrics “are you riding,” ensuring that the craze became even more popular.

Now, in Mexico and other Latin American countries, the In My Feelings challenge has morphed into La Chona challenge, replacing Drake’s hit with the 1995 song La Chona by the Mexican norteña band Los Tucanes de Tijuana.

However, as in the original challenge, people are still jumping out of their cars and doing so remains just as dangerous — particularly when it’s the driver: all that has changed is the soundtrack.

It’s behavior that one might expect authorities to frown upon. But that’s not necessarily so.

In videos posted to social media and later pounced upon by news websites, a municipal police officer, a soldier and a machine-gun-toting state police officer in Nuevo León all take up La Chona challenge.

The northern border state’s Secretariat of Public Security issued a statement saying that it knew who the participating officers were but didn’t say whether they would face any kind of penalties.

But in Querétaro there is speculation that a municipal employee who posted a video of herself taking part in the viral challenge was dismissed for doing so and Mayor Marcos Aguilar Vega issued a statement this week calling on residents of the city to act responsibly and not accept “absurd” challenges that could cost “the lives of those who take it on.”

One woman who did take on La Chona challenge provided a stark example of what can go wrong.

After jumping out of the driver’s seat, she jogs alongside her slowly-moving car while someone in the passenger seat films her through the open door.

The woman clearly enjoys her performance and hams it up for the camera but when she tries to get back into the vehicle, in a manner akin to mounting a bobsled, she trips and instead of ending up behind the wheel as she intended, finds herself lying on the road.

Source: Diario de Querétaro (sp), The Daily Mail (en), Milenio (sp)

LA CHONA CHALLENGE 😩😂 This Hurt SOOOO BAD!!!!!
Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
San Miguel de Allende town center

What’s news in San Miguel de Allende?

0
Infrastructure updates, the city's first Marriott and a global mathlete are just some of the latest pieces of news out of San Miguel de Allende.
Coca-Cola logo

Coca-Cola Mexico returns more than 4 million cubic meters of unused water

3
The soda bottler, often criticized for its water use, is one of several companies participating in the return of unused water from its concessions, and plans to become “water neutral” by 2030.
dollar remittances

Remittances to Mexico decline 12%, the biggest drop in over a decade

0
Banxico reported on Monday that remittances totaled US $4.76 billion in April, down from $5.41 billion in April 2024, the biggest year-over-year drop since September 2012.