This Is Why That Red Bathing Suit Is All Over Instagram

It seems like every day in this day and age brings a new internet trend or phenomenon, and Wednesday was no exception. Anyone who follows millennials and Gen Z-ers on social media probably saw the red bathing suit that was all over Instagram, and if you pay attention you were probably curious what was going on. I was doing my usual post-work scroll through my feed, and I noticed someone had posted a pic of them in a red bathing suit sitting by a pool. Sure, it seemed a little early in the season for pool time, but they could easily be on vacation. I kept scrolling, and an identical photo popped in my feed. That's when I got curious about just what this red bathing suit that was all over Instagram was.

UPDATE: According to a press release, the company responsible for the promotion, Sunny Co Clothing, was so overwhelmed by the internet's response that it later had to adjust the promotion's rules, stating on their Instagram that they would cap the giveaway and that there would be shipping delays "due to the viral volume of participants."

As with a lot of things today, the red bathing suit can be traced back to a viral post on Instagram. California-based clothing company Sunny Co Clothing noticed the best way to get publicity is to have a post that goes viral, so it set about doing that. On a post on its page, the company said everyone who reposted and tagged the photo of the red bathing suit would receive the suit from the company free of charge.

As far as I can tell, the campaign is legit. If you repost the Instagram within 24 hours of the original post and tag the company, you'll actually get sent the red one-piece for free.

The company posted a second photo of the swimsuit with more details about the promo (and a look at the front of the suit). It'll run through Thursday, and participants will have to pay for shipping and handling, but that's it. You can only enter once — and do it fast. If the number of entries gets out of control, Sunny Co might cap how many people can participate.

Of course this kind of promo means people are jumping on the red swimsuit bandwagon fast. And Twitter is definitely noticing.

OK, my feed isn't quite that bad, but this sounds miz.

People are noticing a pattern here.

This PSA is definitely appreciated though.

Even Olympic gymnast Simone Biles got involved.

Only time will tell if this promo is legit, but at least now you know the story behind the red swimsuit.