This Florida man is bugging.
A man named Justin, whose TikTok account @LegbootLegi has 451.1K followers, has made a device to “kiss” bugs.
“Bugkiss,” which is essentially a pair of tiny baby doll lips fashioned to a pacifier by a spring from a pen, has gone viral and now has 15.2 million views.
“The intended method to properly enjoy Bugkiss is to hold the silicone bite piece in your mouth, with the mini-lips pointing out in the direction of the bugs,” the 34-year-old told NeedToKnow.co.uk.
On his TikTok page, the software engineer has a few humorous videos of him making the product, talking about its field guide and actually kissing the bugs with the contraption.
“Then move in slowly for a smooch, gently pressing the mini-lips against the bug. You should avoid eye contact, as this can be threatening to some insects,” he said.
“Note: it helps to ‘chirrup’ softly in your throat as you close in, to let the bug know your intentions are for affection and not for eating them,” he said, adding that he’s gotten to first base with ants, a caterpillar, a dung beetle, a grasshopper, a mosquito, a snail, a spider, a wasp, a woodlouse and a worm.
“The wasp was scary, but also a thrilling endorphin rush. The rest of them were delightful. The worm kissed back.”
In one follow-up video, he has a cocktail with a butterfly and bemoans comments saying kissing bugs wasn’t manly.
Justin told the outlet what inspired his creation.
“There is an image circulating on the internet of a window sticker which reads, ‘I want to kiss every bug, but they are so small and my lips are so strong.’ I don’t know where the phrase originated, but it made me laugh. Then it made me think: this is a problem I can solve,” he said.
Then again, Justin seems to be a serial jokester with an incredible imagination.
More recently, he combined the limbs of an Elf on a Shelf to a meat dog toy to create “The Meat on the Seat: a Yuletide tell-all,” which is a posable meat doll. He also remade a figurine of the cartoon Arthur into his evil twin “Arson.”
Commenters have weighed in on Bugkiss with one saying, “Bro is just casually assaulting the bug kingdom.”
Another quipped, “I don’t even wanna kiss humans why would I wanna kiss bugs.”
While a third was enthusiastic. “Never have I felt so strongly about backing a product.”
Justin said the response has surprised him.
“I never knew such a large portion of the populace wanted to French with creepy crawlies,” he said. “I’ve had so many viewers ask to buy Bugkiss that I’ve decided to launch it on Kickstarter soon.”