Foreword
Euphoria is back with another trend, dances continue to be a staple on the platform, and the gritty is making fun of the way Julia Fox says Uncut Gems. The world of TikTok seems to become more eclectic and wild every week and we’re here just holding on white knuckled trying to make sure we catch all of the trends for you all. While it may be a lot to take in there is a ton of nuance and style we can look for in these simple videos. Join us as we explore through the trends and popular culture that surround the app every week, and how you can utilize it to best engage with your audience.
The Trends
#1 Didn’t have the sex talk but…
279.5k videos on the sound
We would’ve been worried if there were no trends this week under the theme of internal struggle and self deprecation, but fear not because this one is it. Users are joking about family issues in their childhood where they never were given the sex talk by their parents, but they were given another interesting talk in its place. One might expect the trend to be wholesome where someone would reference a productive conversation they had with their parents in place of the sex talk but instead kids are inserting equally as traumatizing or hilariously funny talks they ended up having. Options can range from having the “you don’t hit boys” conversation to the “we’re going to have two Christmases” conversation and users are having a great time laughing at some past struggles.
Examples:
Applicability:
Brands will want to align the sex talk with talks of maturity as a brand, so effectively one could joke about needing to grow up from mismanagement or something hilariously bad like a pyramid scheme.
#2 Shrek in the sky
352.2k videos on the sound
I really don’t even know where to start with this one or how to explain that an AI filter displaying a giant sexualized Shrek in a tight leather suit is taking over TikTok this week, but it is and I have to. Essentially a user has created a filter that shows Shrek as a giant in the distance coming over the horizon while being in a tight black leather suit and every user and their mom is utilizing the filter. There really is no rhyme or reason for this trend, users are just finding the idea of sexualized Shrek to be so funny in and of its self that it has blown up and that’s the type of content we have to consume on the platform this week because of it.
Examples:
Applicability:
Brands will simply want to show Shrek joining them in the workplace via the filter.
#3 Like a relay race dance
217.4k videos on the sound
Although content on TikTok has definitely evolved to have more nuance and engage with culture and ideas from the outside world, dance trends still remain as a prominent part of the culture. This past week the relay race dance trend appeared and is yet another example of the dance trend remaining relevant. For this one users are jokingly seeing who out of a group of people can do the best, or most forced/awkward version, of a chest pull movement. This one’s pretty simple so check out examples below of the actual movement.
Examples:
Applicability:
Brands will simply want to replicate this with brand mascots or representatives
Alternatively, this trend is fun because it allows friends to interact and it may be have fun to have coworkers replicating the trend in an office space for the irony of business people participating in trends.
#4 Oscar your stresss sweat is getting all over
121.3k videos on the sound
This audio is representative of someone getting overly anxious with their friend responding in a comedic way to calm them down, and users have taken it to show the dichotomy between an anxious situation and when they solve it to finally calm down. Specifically, one girl posted a video this last week which reinvigorated the audio, depicting her stressing about not being ready, then cutting to her fully made up to go out looking beautiful. Many girls and some guys are now using it as a thirst trap before and after audio where they show their disheveled selfs before getting ready then the final product.
Examples:
Applicability:
Brands will similarly want to show a brand representative or mascot as disheveled and struggling at first versus when they are at their best.
#5 Algebra
35.5k videos on the sound
Boyfriends and simps on TikTok are getting more creative with how they are showing off the girl they admire and this trend has been a unique way to correlate any person someone desires as a 10. Users will present a math equation on screen that yields the variable X as equal to ten (i.e. 9+X=19). They then proceed to cut to photos of the person they think is attractive and have “X=“ on the screen, meaning that the person being shown off is a 10.
Examples:
Applicability:
Brands can correlate products, mascots, or services to being the attractive person here. Present the same sort of equation and text on the second screen but change the images out with brand products and the irony should be hilarious for TikTok.
#6 Uncut gems
46.0k videos on the sound
Recently Julia Fox has been in the news quite a lot due to her public relationship with Kanye but her greater relevance to the younger generation is from people making fun of her voice via a trend on TikTok. In an interview with Call Her Daddy, Julia referenced how she was a muse for Josh Safdie when he was writing Uncut Gems, yet the way she said Uncut Gems was objectively pretty funny. If anything it sounded like a stereotypical “valley girl” accent that you would see in films about Hollywood. Regardless an entire audio appeared from the clip and users, mainly female, are lip syncing to it while looking pretty to make thirst traps with a little sarcasm involved.
Examples:
Applicability:
Brands here have a lot of flexibility to associate parts of their business as being a “muse” yet it will likely not be extraordinarily brand aligned.
#7 More Euphoria
29.5k videos on the sound
The show Euphoria seems to be a cultural movement around the United States right now and that has reflected itself onto TikTok for the last few weeks. We have highlighted three trends that have stemmed from season 2 clips but this week there is another. The scene being clipped is when Cassie realizes during the play, “Wait is this f***ing play about us?” This line is being used by creators to joke about times when they are being singled out or talked about by other people in some manner. The results are hilarious so we highly recommend you check out the examples on this one below.
Examples:
Applicability:
Applications
Trends from last week that keep climbing
#8 Eye filters
Millions of videos on the sounds
TikTok has started to allow users to generate filters more easily and a popular trend has appeared in this new realm of content on the platform. Many people are creating filters positioning user’s eyes on top of famous figures. The figures usually allude to some sort of funny context so there are a multitude of reasons or underlying meanings to each figure, but users on the whole are having a great time using the new features.
Examples:
Applicability:
Context will depend on the figurehead so brands will want to align with figures that meet their brand message in some way.
#9 No but it’s not funny
57.4k videos on the sound
TikTok is the home of self deprecation and this trend has been a fourth wall break in that field of play. Users are essentially reflecting upon their self deprecating jokes as being actually serious and having real world consequences, yet they are doing it from a perspective of being self deprecating. Like I said, it’s effectively a fourth wall break for self deprecating jokes. The moral of the story, however, is that nobody can or should take anyone seriously on TikTok and all content on the platform comes with a grain of salt.
Examples:
Applicability:
Brands here will want to play into the same self deprecating commentary, pointing out semi-serious issues but neglecting them nonetheless.
Bonus
The Gritty, famous for, well, the gritty is continuing his fame on TikTok and recently has done a hilariously good job with content. This video specifically is something we wanted to highlight because they not only integrated with the basis of a viral trend, but they also adapted it to be even funnier and emphasize the hilarity of it. The video depicts the gritty holding up signs reading uncut Gems, and as the Gritty changes position around the arena from scene to scene, the poster slowly starts to read closer to how Julia Fox said “Uncut Jahmmmz”. There is really no reason for the Flyers to be doing this with Gritty but it buys into the cultural capital of the fans and is just a funny thing for admittedly all sports fans to see from a mascot.
Summary
This week has shown us the many sides of content on TikTok but like we always say it can be entirely different next week with the wide adaptability of trends and formatted content. Filters like that of Shrek are enabling new content while dance trends of the past remain a major staple. Stick along for the ride and we’ll make sure to guide you through the tumultuous world that is culture on TikTok, and how to navigate it with your brand in the coming year!