Who Is Planting the Trees?! We Explain the “We’ll Plant 1 Tree for Every Pet Pic” Instagram Trend

The supposed creators have stepped forward and it’s…a little suss.

Believe it or not, there is a point at which I don’t really want to see everyone’s dog pics anymore.

That’s ‘cos 4.5 million of you have now shared the “We’ll Plant 1 Tree for Every Pet Pic” on your Instagram stories, and I’m starting to wonder who got themselves into this gardening bonanza.

Since 8 November, people have been speculating whether this is a genuine, wholesome campaign, or a mere scam. Thanks to an Instagram glitch, users have been unable to see the account that created the story.

Well, a small business has just come forward—Plant A Tree Co. (@plantatreeco). Sounds legit, right? There’s still some doubt…

Just this morning the account shared a post supposedly explaining everything.

Long story short, the charity account posted the sticker for a bit of fun, realised it was growing exponentially, and deleted it 10 minutes later.

They want to continue raising ‘awareness’ and are encouraging the trend to continue.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

Both in the comment sections and on entire Instagram accounts, users are calling out @plantatreeco for ‘instascamming’.

Selling their own products with unclear links to major charities does seem a little dubious. Tbh, I am getting a bit of a 2008 email chainmail vibe from the whole thing.

Overall, there are mixed reactions. Some people are calling out those hopping on the trend for being super gullible.

Gen Z will make fun of old people for believing everything they see on Facebook then think posting a photo on their story is gonna plant a tree

— jan (@jsafc13) November 8, 2021

Others are just happy to see some pups. No harm in that, right?

I don’t care if they don’t plant a tree the Serotonin from other peoples pets was enough

— salma (@salmanellla) November 8, 2021

Header Image: @buddy_rescuepup and @plantatreeco via Instagram.