Fax or Cap

**"Fax or Cap"**, or sometimes styled as FOC, is an online game show on TikTok where viewers have the opportunity to vote on a viral burning question. This game was first created by small TikTok creator Zach Gindi-Chiafullo in December of 2020. After round 50, Gindi-Chiafullo started posting new Fax or Cap rounds on a new account specifically designed for the games called Fax or Cap, Which is the current platform for releasing rounds. The series aired it's final episode on October 20, 2022 and concluded on December 29, 2022, with 620 total episodes.

## *Fax or Cap*

### Run time

17 Seconds-30 Seconds (Regular Episodes)30 Seconds-1 Minute (Specials)

## Beginning and overall liking (Rounds 1-20)

This idea started as a thought of a fun game on a train ride back home to New Jersey in December. At the time of this, Zach's TikTok account was dying and he was running out of ideas to post. This would be a new series for him and his account and he had a lot of potential for this game. Later that night, he posted the first ever round of Fax or Cap. Because of his small account size, he wasn't expecting the game to "blow up". The next day, when he saw his phone, there were some votes on the game and his followers seemed to like it. With that in hand, he decided he would continue the game for a second and third round before he goes any further than that. The people loved the game, so Zach eventually decided that he will release daily Fax or Cap rounds on his account, as a new series. Throughout the first few weeks of airing, there was an average of 30 votes per post, and Zach was really happy about that. A couple months later during round 18, Zach started taking suggestions from the players. On the 20th round, he made a special episode using the website 15.ai, allowed SpongeBob SquarePants to host the next two rounds.

## Hosting Additions and Fax or Cap Depression (Rounds 21-40)

After the chaos between SpongeBob and the Host, Zach decided that they need to get along. So, for rounds 23-26, Zach took the stands of hosting the rounds, which did not get as much hype as the other hosts. By round 27, the host came back and games continued normally from there. Towards the end of the 30's, the rounds were starting to lose hype, but the views stayed at about 200 average views per game. During this time, the voting participation average was down to 7 people. Zach claimed that he is now entering the Fax or Cap Depression. These voting conditions continued on for far over a week.

## Continuation of Depression, technical difficulties and lead-up to round 50 (Rounds 40-49)

Round 39 only received 3 votes overnight. With round 50 just around the corner, Zach got right to work a couple days later. He started and finished editing round 50 within only a few days. However, during round 42, he announced that he would try to use a different poll for the round, due to difficulties with his phone. This delayed round production back 3 days before his phone was finally working again that Friday. With that, round production continued as normal with normal hype, marking the end of the Fax or Cap Depression. From rounds 43-49, Zach kept the spirit for the upcoming 50th round by doing a countdown in the caption for six days.

## Round 50, New account and huge success (Rounds 50-70)

On the night of February 12, 2021, Shortly after round 50's release, Zach decided he would start posting games on a separate account from his main one to continue doing his creative outlets. He started the new account, released round 50 on it, and hopes were high. Votes were higher than normal, nothing too much in the first few days. Then suddenly, six days after the new account opened, his phone blew up. There were hundreds of notifications given every second and the rounds were packed with thousands of votes, views and likes. With this, Zach knew that the people liked Fax or Cap. He continued releasing rounds like normal, and the vote count was high. Within a couple days, this account got more followers than his whole main account. He started accepting suggestions from the Q&A from other fans.

## Shorter intro, less hype and lead-up to round 100 (Rounds 70-99)

A couple of fans suggested that the intro would be shorter. Once ignored, but more people were begging, so starting round 71, he would release rounds with the statement right in front of the screen immediately, without having the wait of the long intro, This pleased many people, but it wasn't getting as much hype as the long intros. This averaged only 500 likes per post, which is little compared to what it was before. The short intro continued for eight rounds, before he finally decided to bring back the long intro. This gained more hype than the short intros, so he kept it that way, bringing the average like per post back up to 1000. He brought the short intro back for round 89, but it resulted in becoming the least-liked video on the account. He was afraid that Fax or Cap was dying and people were getting tired of it, so experimenting will be in place for a few days. Shortly after round 96, the account reached 50,000 likes and it had more than the main account.

## Round 100 and new FOC experience (Rounds 100-122)

On April 2, 2021, Zach posted Round 100 and stated that things will be different and the game will be experimenting more with suggestions from fans. For round 101, a different sound was used for the first time in FOC history, and the statement was revealed in the caption of the video, rather than waiting until later on for it and accidentally clicking the wrong button. The next round had different backgrounds as well as other major improvements suggested. This received positive feedback. After a six-day hiatus on April 5, Fax or Cap continued releasing daily with round 104 released on Sunday, April 11.

## Less hype again and new series (Rounds 122-143)

Round 122 was released with much sorrow knowing that the account was dying. The likes were only in the hundreds rather than in the thousands. Because of this, Zach used that round to tell the viewers to save the account, and many were not pleased, thinking that the creator was "begging for clout". So he was losing followers. In an attempt to save fax or cap, Zach came up with a new series, Would You Rather, which would act as a second season for Fax or Cap. The series was a success, but only lasted 5 rounds, and after that, Fax or Cap continued as normal.

## New Voice, Second Depression and shoutouts (Rounds 143-179)

After TikTok's new text-to-speech update, the old voice was replaced by Karen, a new host that not many people liked. On May 25, 2021, Which is coincidentally Zach's birthday, the account reached 100,000 likes. With the little hype Fax or Cap and not gaining even 1,000 views anymore, Zach stated that the account is entering a second depression. With that, he decided that followers should have more recognition. So, he gave shoutout opportunities during every round to acknowledge his followers in hopes of saving the account. However, this did not help. In fact, some of the shoutout videos were among the least liked videos on the account, gaining no more than 200 likes per video. This continued until round 179, where rounds would continue as normal.

## Old format, possible revival and lead-up to round 200 (Rounds 179-199)

With the old Fax or Cap format returning, fans were pleased. Round 183 was the first round to gain over 1000 views since round 155. The views remained above-average. Zach knew that round 200 was coming, so he had to prepare. Since round 190, he tried to get the viewers hyped for round 200.

## Continuation of second depression to the present day (Rounds 201-249)

With round 200 over with, and the continuation of the depression, Fax or Cap rounds continued as normal. More requests from the Q&A were answered, and viewers stayed mostly happy. Round 208 was the first round to gain over 1,000 votes since round 152, and round 209 had over 1,000 votes as well. It is also worth mentioning that new sounds were used at some points. For rounds 217-220, Chris was the contemporary host of Fax or Cap. In one of the rounds that Chris hosted, round 219, it had the most views and most votes since round 148.

## FOC's second chance, the return of Chris and lead up to round 300 (rounds 250-277)

Round 250 was celebrated on September 10, 2021. Ever since then, the rounds continued to have less hype. However, when Chris returned to host in round 265, replacing Karen once again, rounds started to gain above-average hype. Round 268 was the first round to gain 5,000 views since round 117 back in April, and round 269 had over 3,000 views.

## Ultra Lows, revival of account, end of second depression, 10,000 Followers and round 300 (Rounds 278-335)

Round 278 was dedicated as a warning to the followers that the account was dying big time and returning to the hype of his old account, with views below 1000 views for three consecutive days. However, there were another eight consecutive days with round views below 1000 (two of those below 500), following the round. Ever since round 286, views remained above 1000, and throughout the 290s, the rounds were returning to their normal hype, marking the official end of the second fax or cap depression on November 1, 2021. Throughout the next few rounds, the Fax or Cap account was getting on the for you page more often, causing the series to make a comeback. Several of those rounds had well above 1000 views, some exceeding 5000. Likes were increasing as well, as multiple were over 500. The account hit 10,000 followers on November 23, 2021.

## Fax or Cap: Year to Be!, new format and Season 13 (Rounds 336-366)

Season 13 Aired on December 6, with the Holiday Event, Fax or Cap: Year to Be! beginning just six days later. This event will celebrate one year of Fax or Cap rounds. (The anniversary of the first round is December 18). The first round included a face reveal of the creator in the intro, and a new sound was used, a holiday remix of the classic "ADDERALL x BOO x IG FREESTYLE" sound, created by Zach Gindi-Chiafullo. The one year anniversary was celebrated on December 18, 2021, however it was released at 12:01:52 AM the next day due to slow download.

## Revival of the Series and Seasons 14 and 15 (Rounds 367-400)

After round 366, the series started gaining more and more views every day, eventually returning close to it's normal hype in February 2021. Several rounds have gained over 1,000 likes. One of the rounds, round 380, boasted 24,000 views and 1900 likes, making it the most viewed and liked round since round 68 last year, and the eighth most popular overall. The series ended it's 14th season on January 24, 2021 and gained almost 100,000 views.

## The Poll Problem, Revival of Would You Rather and new formats (Rounds 401-619)

After round 400, there were new text formats in the Fax or Cap franchise. Rounds still gained below-average hype, so after round 479, the revival of the series Would You Rather started on May 2, 2022. Round 500 aired on May 25, 2022.

## Dead account and conclusion of the series

The period between Round 500 and 619 saw the lowest hype the account has received over its almost two year course. Throughout this period, there were many thoughts of possibly ending the series from the creator due to also interfering with his personal life. The account saw over two months of inactivity after round 620 was posted. After much time and consideration, Gindi-Chiafullo announced that Fax or Cap was coming to an end on December 29, 2022. The series saw 22 seasons in total with over a million game views.

## Episodes

Main Article: List of Fax or Cap episodes

## Trivia

* It turns out to some fans that "Fax or Cap" might be a copy of other creators such as party shirt, however, Zach has claimed that this is entirely different and it is not a copy of anything.
* As of March 2021, there have been over 50,000 game votes.
* This game will likely not "end" anytime soon. Zach claims that he will go even past 500 rounds. He says "Let's just get through round 100 and go from there".
	+ Ironically, the series well surpassed 500 rounds.
* The amount of fans for this show was very unexpected, according to Zach.
* Round lengths can range from 15 seconds to 1 minute.
* The sound "ADDERALL x BOO x IG FREESTYLE" is the classic FOC sound, being used in more than 85% of the rounds.
* There are several little known spin-offs of Fax or Cap. These include "Cash or Trash" and "Topic of the Day". A number of creators have also made a series called "Fax or Cap", inspired by the creator himself.

## Cited List

https://tokcounter.com/?user=fax.\_.or.\_.cap