Hundreds of students will gather in a Taco Bell parking lot at 2 a.m. Saturday, tilt their heads toward the sky and let out a deafening scream in unison — all with the hope of turning into a 1990s anime character.
The event is inspired by a national social media phenomenon built on a generational nostalgia for the TV show “Dragon Ball Z.” Thousands of people have mimicked the iconic scream of its main character, “Goku,” at similar events across the country.
Viking Wadsworth, a senior mathematics major, brought the trend to ASU when he made a “Scream Like Goku” Facebook event to be held in the Taco Bell on the corner of Rural Road and Apache Boulevard in Tempe.
The idea began as a joke but quickly attracted thousands of interested Facebook users, so Wadsworth spun it to include a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish Arizona, he said.
Wadsworth posted a donation link on the Facebook page and said he will bring a cash donation box to the event on Saturday.
“If the ASU community is coming together go to this event, then we could do something that benefits Arizona children as well,” Wadsworth said.
Wadsworth said he was initially surprised by the amount of attention the event received, but he thinks it will end up becoming a fun experience for the participants.
“At first I was a little worried that Taco Bell would be upset and employees would be harassed,” Wadsworth said. “But then I realized that if this many people are interested in it then it would be a good time and I think that’s something that everyone would enjoy doing.”
Just a few days before the event Wadsworth found out Taco Bell would be closed for renovations the night of the event.
Elijah, a manager at Taco Bell who declined to give his last name, confirmed the restaurant would be closed during the event for renovations.
“The thing is we’re actually closed … we’re doing a remodel right now,” he said. “The only thing open right now is just the drive-thru.”
Undeterred, Wadsworth said the event will take place in the restaurant’s parking lot instead.
Public policy graduate student Zak Ghali, a friend of Wadsworth, said charity is a key element of the event.
“To be able to connect it with something like Make-A-Wish and show that ASU students — even when they’re having fun and doing something goofy — can give back to the community, I think is incredibly important,” Ghali said.
Wadsworth said he expects at least a couple hundred to come out to the viral event.
“Anything more than a hundred is going to be a lot of kids on its own,” Wadsworth said. “I figured at least a couple hundred might show up, but we’ll see what happens.”
Reach the reporter at angelmendoza@cox.net or follow @niceledes on Twitter.
Reach the reporter at reillykneedler@gmail.com or follow @reillykneedler on Twitter.
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