What should have been a simple beach photo turned into a big deal on the internet when Highlanda Marotta accidentally created sparks and a funny optical illusion.
Madi, who goes by @madimarotta on TikTok, was visiting South Beach in Miami on a sunny day when she took a picture in a bright yellow bikini. She grinned for the camera while waves crashed behind her and people on the beach relaxed close by. She was hoping to grab the perfect picture for her Instagram.
But when she looked at the picture again later, she saw something that made her feel embarrassed: an arm from another woman in the background seemed to stick out of her bikini bottoms, making it look like she had a very graphic appendage.
Instead of keeping the incident to herself, Madi uploaded the picture on TikTok with the description, “I tried to take a cute picture on South Beach, but this lady’s arm makes me look like my peen is hanging out.” Have fun.
The video rapidly went viral, with over 4 million views and almost 700,000 likes. People left a lot of comments on the post, including jokes, incredulity, and offers to help restore the illusion. “I DIDN’T THINK IT WOULD BE THAT BAD,” someone wrote. Someone else said, “Don’t take pictures in front of people’s arms.” Okay. A third person said, “I just laughed out loud in public.”
A lot of people who saw the photo offered to modify it, which made Madi think she could easily get rid of the bad arm with Photoshop. People said kind things about her for being so good about it and said it was one of the funniest TikToks they had seen in a long time.
Madi said in a follow-up video that she had posted the picture to her Instagram feed to test if anyone would notice the bad visual trick. It didn’t take long. She remarked, chuckling, “My friends started texting me within five seconds.” Not long later, she deleted the post.
Even though she was embarrassed, Madi’s funny and humorous response got a lot of acclaim on social media. A lot of people said that the viral moment reminded them that even the best-planned images may be ruined by things going on in the background, and that it’s always good to be able to laugh at yourself.
Even while the original picture didn’t get to Instagram, it did make an effect on TikTok, one optical illusion at a time.