TL;DR
- Instagram and TikTok are coming up with some wild American Girl doll backstories
- TikTokers are sharing their insecurities, questions, and deep thoughts in an obscure way
- British Bank Halifax has caused a stir with their gender pronoun name tags
“We need an American Girl Doll who…” Memes are Trending All Over Social Media
American Girl dolls (and their many pricey accessories) were a favorite among Gen Z and Millennials as kids and now the dolls have made a mass reemergence on social media–as a meme. Creators are coming up with dolls whose stories are focused on more obscure historical events (like the Great Molasses Flood), or their own, usually absurd, memories and habits. As Bustle reports, the memes may have started with Instagrammer @hellicity_merriman whose account is dedicated to American Girl content and started posting calls for American Girl dolls who represent the universal Millennial experience, like “we need an American Girl doll who is 27 years old, has no money, no prospects and is frightened,” and “we need an american girl doll who cried when nick jonas was diagnosed with diabetes.” But the trend is also appearing on TikTok, where #americangirldoll has 290M views, and many takes on the meme live under the hashtag. @lexi.overstreet’s video, with over 1.6 million views, reads “We need an American Girl doll who called the FBI on her dad because he was at Jan 6.” TikTok creator @inbloombyemily is racking up thousands of views for her many takes on the meme, which include incredibly specific commentary describing each of her ideas, the most popular of which is “We need an American Girl doll who went to college in 2016.” Of course, the meme is also being used for commentary on current events, especially Roe V Wade.
TikTokers Are Hiding Messages About Insecurities Using This Trending Audio
Sometimes TikTokers want to dance, sometimes they want to make weird food, and sometimes they want to share their darkest thoughts and feelings via an obscure trend. This week, they chose the latter. As Mashable reported, users on the audio fiona’s gf which currently has 352.6K videos, to hide “their deepest insecurities in product requests.” These TikTokers are posting simple clips of themselves to the song, usually doing something mundane like eating, putting on makeup, or just staring into the distance, with captions that start out asking an innocuous question about a product, then take a sharp turn into the existential. And some are going massively viral. For example, @polemidies asks, “What’s your favorite color Popsicle? I can’t stop seeing a hideous ogre in the mirror and assuming that’s the reason I’m alone but I like the blue ones best” (6.5M views). @sayh3llotothiskitty’s, at 1.8 million views, posits, “what foundation do y’all use? because i don’t know where me and him went wrong, I use elf it’s really good n not pricy be lasting long too.” You get the gist. Judging by the many languages used on the text in videos under the audio, the trend is a global one, and sharing insecurities via TikTok memes crosses borders.
British Bank Halifax Has Caused A Divide Over Their Pronoun Badges.
This week, British bank Halifax tweeted “pronouns matter” showing their policy for employees to start wearing pronouns on their name badges–and it’s stirred up some mixed reactions online. Some have praised the decision as a step forward for the LGBTQ+ communities, especially those that are trans or non-binary. Whilst others have laughed at the decision calling it ridiculous and a “woke” decision for those that are “snowflakes” (a term used for those that get easily offended). Of course, Twitter is the platform that’s been the center of the discord. Following their release on Twitter—which got over 11K likes, 687 retweets, and 2K quote tweets—arguments broke out, with some expressing outrage, and people in favour replying with why it’s a good idea for the LGBTQ+ community (and to be polite). Halifax released a second statement following the backlash in response to those that don’t like the use of pronouns on badges telling customers that don’t like it to close their accounts. Young LGBTQ+ consumers have told YPulse their desire to see more brands become inclusive and diverse–and while some might be expressing their unhappiness online our data indicates most young people would support the decision by Halifax to create a more welcome and safe space for young consumers and young employees. And we know just how much young consumers love to use their technology to show their support for a cause they care about. Whether you’re for or against Halifax’s badge decision, young LGBTQ+ consumers online will be showing their support and definitely replying to those nasty Twitter threads!
Links We’re Passing:
Cardi B is back and released a new song with Kanye West and Lil Durk
Stranger Things Season 4 Vol 2 release caused Netflix to crash
A “Minions cult” is taking over TikTok
Lil Kim’s BET performance is getting a lot of Google Search action
Old Spice taps Arby’s for meat sweats
Gen Z is mourning for Roe V Wade on TikTok
