LE MARS, Iowa (KCAU)– On January 9, Eli Mielke created an Instagram account called peanutbuttereater16 with the idea of eating small amounts of peanut butter after getting a certain amount of followers. However, that quickly blew up.
“All over the internet they’ve been doing just certain things for so many followers and I thought well peanut butter’s pretty good,” said Eli.
“My first thought was that it was kinda funny and then I started to be in awe at how fast his account was growing,” said Angela Karulish-Mielke, Eli’s Mom.
Eli’s plan was for every 50 followers he would eat one tablespoon of peanut butter.
“I was expecting it kind of as a joke to get you know maybe a couple hundred, but then once it got in the thousands it kept going. And I thought it was funny at first and then when I realized how much peanut butter I had to eat then it wasn’t much of a joke anymore and it was a lot of peanut butter,” said Eli.
On the sixth day, peanutbuttereater16 amassed more than 20,000 people.
“So I decided every 10,000 followers I’ll eat one cup of peanut butter,” said Eli.
However, that rule change didn’t save Eli from consuming large amounts of peanut butter much to his dismay.
“I’d get about a quarterway through it and all hope was gone. I didn’t think I could get through it and I kept going. And in the videos you can see I just lay there for a solid minute just think about it, like I can’t keep going,” said Eli.
Eli made a goal on January 14th to cover himself in peanut butter once he reached 100,000 followers which he did a few days ago. Since starting the account the Mielke household has gone through seven jars of peanut butter.
“I’ve spent pretty close to $150 on peanut butter to support this venture for him,” said Angela.
At this time, peanutbuttereater16 has more than 117,000 followers. With Eli’s goal reached he plans to take a break and think about the future of his Instagram account.
“For right now I don’t have anything planned out, just cause I literally started it like not even too long ago, so I haven’t had any time to really think about that. I’m sure exactly where it will go, but with that many people following you can do really anything with it,” said Eli.
Eli says his Instagram account is the talk of the high school and the Le Mars YMCA and he’s even received a box of treats and merchandise from Skippy Peanut Butter themselves.
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