The CDC Made Waves With Some Truly Iconic ‘Sh*tposting’ About Diarrhea In The Pool

Center for Disease Control infographics are usually not very funny, but when you mix in swimming, children, and, uh… diarrhea, well, anything is possible. After more than a year of dire updates and regulations about the deadly realities of COVID-19, perhaps the American public was waiting for a sign that they can enjoy their summers and share a laugh by the pool.

But the CDC really outdid themselves on Thursday with a graphic that went viral because it was, well, pretty graphic. The image was part of their pool safety awareness campaign that got right down to business. “Don’t leave your mark at the pool this summer,” the ad read, which is pretty cheeky because it’s an image about the dangers of diarrhea at the swimming pool. But what really got people talking about the graphic interchange format animation was the visual of a young smiling girl sliding down a water slide leaving a trail of brown in her wake.

And given the context of the rest of the image, it’s safe to say that the government paid someone to animate a little kid going Number Two down a water slide.

The tweet is oddly mesmerizing, and very funny despite it covering a very serious topic. Contaminated swimming pools can cause serious illness, especially for young people. But the image associated with the post was ripe for jokes, which is what social media was flooded with in the aftermath of the slide down the tube.

The tweet also linked to a CDC webpage simply called “diarrhea and swimming,” complete with an image of smiling children staring at the camera. Hopefully, none of them were currently… well, you know, at the time the image was taken. But the site itself does have plenty of good advice about what not to do in a swimming pool, starting with not relieving yourself in it. And if someone fails to adhere to those rules, well, don’t drink the water.

Stay safe out there this summer, folks.