Burger King may have made the jingle of all jingles for this year’s NFL season
YPulse told you how food and beverage brands are finding success with celeb jingle collabs these days, but Burger King’s new tune has managed to reach young people without a big music artist. The fast food chain’s inescapable ad song has been in just about every football fan’s ear this year as it’s played during the commercials all season. And while its repetitive nature is somewhat annoying, everyone is still loving it—or maybe haunted by it, as some of their social media would make it seem.
Over on Twitter, the Whopper memes are endless. Users are tweeting that the only thing playing in their brain while watching a stressful game is “WHOPPER WHOPPER WHOPPER WHOPPER” while more are imagining Rihanna chanting the jingle as she emerges for her much anticipated half time performance. There’s also a slew of remixes getting thousands of views: edited to video game tunes—more than one—or to the rhythm of the classic harder, better, faster, stronger, now whopper, whopper, whopper, whopper. This last remix has made its way to TikTok virality, too, with 75K videos under the audio “Harder Better Faster Whopper.”
This week on TikTok: In the face of tight budgets, influencers are “de-influencing” unnecessary products
Every brand, especially beauty brands, knows how important it is to have the approval of influencers in order to make sales on new products these days. If enough creators try a product and rave about it, their millions of collective followers will sell it out in no-time. But viewers have caught onto the fact that influencers aren’t inclined to say something negative about a product they were gifted or paid to talk about. (Especially in light of “Mascara Gate”—where beloved influencer Mikayala Nogueira wore fake lashes in a paid mascara post and claims she didn’t.) Now, a subsect of creators on TikTok are de-influencing: telling their viewers what not to spend their money on, instead of urging them to the stores in the name of another brand deal.
The trend under the hashtag #Deinfluencing has nearly 70M views, with creators showing products that didn’t work for them, sharing tips on how to decide what to be influenced by, and appreciating how the content is tackling over-consumption. For many young consumers today, extra spending money is tight, and influencer content can make them feel like they’re missing out if they don’t buy in. But de-influencing videos want to let them know that not every product works for every person, and that it’s better to only buy a few reliable ones than every viral one. For sustainability influencers, it’s a chance to have their messages heard through the constant promotional noise: buy less, more intentionally.
For brands, this might seem like the end of influencer marketing—but it’s not. It’s simply a call from mainly smaller creators for viewers to think more critically about who is influencing them, taking into consideration if the product working for one creator will really work for them. Some creators even think this could be a good opportunity for brands to learn their niche, and only tap creators who are within the audience the product actually benefits—rather than risk bad reviews when they claim it’s a one-size-fits-all.
Gen Z are getting into home décor—and now they love curvy plates
Now that Gen Z are moving into their own spaces, they’re developing their own quirky home décor style, even for their dishware. One Swedish designer’s chunky, colorful, and hand-made plates and cups took TikTok by storm after a popular unboxing video showing them in hot pink, which racked up 7M views. But this isn’t the first time Gustaf Westman’s home pieces have gone viral, as he’s behind the infamous curvy mirror, too. The hashtag #GustafWestman even has 21M views, mostly of users DIY-ing their own decorations in the Scandinavian style.
But with the viral plateware ranging at 30-65€ an item, Gen Z with tight budgets have found similarly styled dupes (which are, albeit ironically, another huge trend at the moment). One, somehow unrelated, semi-viral TikTok audio is also showing tons of curvy dishware: user @rebjansmi’s original audio saying “In the end, we’re all just women who wanna find bowls that sort of look like plates that are sort of like bowls.” All the videos under the sound show creators’ “blates” as they’re calling them now—curvy dishes that are shallow and wide enough to be a plate, but around the depth of a salad bowl.
In Western Europe: A flight to Milan and a classic pizza for the same price as a Domino’s medium pie
Young Europeans (especially Gen Z) love their takeaways, moving away from the Instagrammable foodie culture as we know it, and towards the messy, unhealthy (and cheap) options. But young Brit Callum Ryan has taken it a step further. Ryan’s account @thatonecal explores different fast-food options across the globe, low-rated restaurants, and current couple trends for his 1.1 million followers. But his recent video has gone viral for showing just how expensive takeout can be. He took an £8 flight to Italy and bought a pizza for less than an order from Domino’s—not breaking his £19.99 budget, the average cost of a medium pizza at the delivery chain. With the help of TikTok, he managed to find the perfect pizza place around, and even got a complimentary free glass of prosecco and a mini pesto pizza roll.
His TikTok video has 2.1M views so far, and comments are expressing their shock. Even Ryanair (the airline that Ryan flew to Milan on) got in on the action, commenting “We still have £8 flights?!?” Many are wondering why their Domino’s delivery is that much, especially creators from the U.K., where their orders turn out to be more expensive than others. And while many young Europeans will still order Domino’s—it’s one of their favourite fast-food chains—it’s certainly bringing into question the amount they’re spending on their takeout orders. Especially when they can satisfy their wanderlust, and their love for comfort food.
Passing links:
Music: Beyoncé has officially announced the Renaissance World Tour—her first in more than four years—TicketMaster, beware
TikTok: People are eating oranges in the shower…again
Julia Fox gave a tour of her incredibly normal NYC apartment, saying she dislikes excessive displays of wealth
Jordyn Woods is defending her new brand in the face of harsh influencer criticism
Gaming: Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are all skipping E3 this year
Beauty: TikTokers are using pasta strainers to dry their curly hair
Movies and TV: The new heads of DC Studios have another Superman reboot on their lineup
Celebrities: Reading is the hottest thing celebrity men can do
Fashion: The hyped-up Nike x Tiffany Co. collab got less excitement from their actual design
