--- title: People Are Throwing Vans Shoes Into Air for Viral Challenge description: The Internet's latest challenge consists of people throwing Vans sneakers into the air to see if they land upright. canonical: https://time.com/5542996/vans-challenge/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-03-04T18:54:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:57:51.871Z og:title: People Are Throwing Vans Shoes Into Air for Viral Challenge og:description: For a good reason og:url: https://time.com/5542996/vans-challenge/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06b004c3342ca4ce/6989462c09208f01684136dd/vans-challenge.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Street Style - Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Madrid Autumn / Winter 2017 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: People Are Throwing Vans Shoes Into Air for Viral Challenge twitter:description: For a good reason twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06b004c3342ca4ce/6989462c09208f01684136dd/vans-challenge.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Internet's New Challenge Involves People Throwing Vans Sneakers in the Air En Masse for a Cool Reason  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Mar 4, 2019 6:54 PM UTC  MADRID, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 17: Clara wears Zara trousers, Zara jacket, Zara handbag and Vans shoes during the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Autumn / Winter 2017 at Ifema (Photo by Eduardo Parra/Getty Images) MADRID, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 17: Clara wears Zara trousers, Zara jacket, Zara handbag and Vans shoes during the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Autumn / Winter 2017 at Ifema (Photo by Eduardo Parra/Getty Images)Eduardo Parra—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Mar 4, 2019 6:54 PM UTC People are throwing their [Vans shoes](http://time.com/4261248/vans-50th-anniversary-tony-alva-steve-van-doren/) in the air en masse, thanks to a[ viral Internet challenge](http://time.com/4893131/hot-water-challenge/). The challenge began when a Twitter user noticed that her Vans shoes always landed upright when she threw them onto the floor. She shared a video of her discovery, along with a caption that claimed, “it doesn’t matter how you throw your vans they will land facing up.” The Internet wasted no time in testing out this theory, taking to their own closets to toss up their Vans, with most finding that her hypothesis was true. There’s a good reason why the Vans challenge works, however; since the sneakers [started out as a brand for skaters](https://www.vans.com/history.html), the heavy soles of the shoe are designed to help weigh feet down on the skateboard and cushion the impact of skating. This heavier sole design might explain why Vans always land top-side up. See the best of the Vans challenge below. > [](https://twitter.com/Ibelievthehype/status/1101943684797530112) > [](https://twitter.com/BryceMckenney1/status/1102274890898571265) > [](https://twitter.com/jo%5Fvillarreal16/status/1102412145747288064) > [](https://twitter.com/iris%5Fadi/status/1102423726392569857) > [](https://twitter.com/%5FAustinBosquez/status/1102428132106153984) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5542996/vans-challenge/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5542996/vans-challenge/"},"headline":"The Internet's New Challenge Involves People Throwing Vans Sneakers in the Air En Masse for a Cool Reason","datePublished":"2019-03-04T18:54:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:57:51.871Z","description":"Here's what you need to know","url":"https://time.com/5542996/vans-challenge/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06b004c3342ca4ce/6989462c09208f01684136dd/vans-challenge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06b004c3342ca4ce/6989462c09208f01684136dd/vans-challenge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Street Style - Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Madrid Autumn / Winter 2017","caption":"Street Style - Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Madrid Autumn / Winter 2017","creditText":"Eduardo Parra—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5542996/vans-challenge/","name":"The Internet's New Challenge Involves People Throwing Vans Sneakers in the Air En Masse for a Cool Reason"}}]}] ```