5 new TikTok trends that brands can follow

The start of a new year had little effect on TikTok’s unremitting trend cycle, with a wave of new platform trends and popular video formats already emerging in just the first two months of 2024. These trends range from the rise of fresh online vocabulary (in the same vein as the birth of the “My Roman Empire” phrase last fall) to new manifestations of TikTok users’ patented dark humor. But Universal Music Group removing the music libraries of popular artists such as Taylor Swift off TikTok, following a licensing disagreement, has presented a new hurdle to brands and creators looking to capitalize on music-based TikTok trends. The move is also affecting the artists, many of whom have used TikTok to promote their new music. If you missed our most recent round of trends, you can catch up here. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs “If I won the lottery … there would be signs” Almost everyone has imagined what it would be like to strike it rich by scoring a lucky lottery win. That daydream is the foundation of this TikTok trend, in which users share what they would spend their newfound riches on if they won the lottery, from a refrigerator stuffed with jars of pickles to a small pack of golden retrievers. The format of the trend is fairly simple: Users add on-screen text to their videos, which reads, “If I won the lottery, I wouldn’t tell anyone, but there would be signs.” These videos are typically set to the song “End of Beginning” by Djo, whose real name is Joe Keery, (known for playing Steve Harrington in “Stranger Things”), with users matching the reveal of what they’d spend their lottery winnings on to the start of a synth melody in the song. Several brands have woven their products and characters into the trend, including Marvel, which joked that the fictional character Tony Stark would spend his lottery jackpot on his Iron Man suit. Wonderful Halos leveraged generative AI to show how an anthropomorphic orange would use its fortune for luxury vacations and sports cars, while NYX Professional Makeup flaunted a large collection of its beauty products as its post-lottery win splurge. @nyxcosmetics nobody’s gonna know 👀 #lottery #liphaul #nyxcosmetics ♬ Living In A Haze (Instrumental) - Milky Chance “Pookie is looking absolutely fire today” Husband and wife Jett and Campbell Puckett went viral in recent months for their TikTok videos showing off their outfits for occasions such as date nights, ski trips or trips to Waffle House, in which Jett affectionately refers to his wife as “Pookie” and refers to her fashion ensembles as “absolutely fire” (internet slang for “amazing”). Several creators and celebrities began mimicking their video style and unfailingly including the now-iconic line, “Pookie is looking absolutely fire today.” Shortly before the trend began to sweep across the internet, Adidas sponsored a video of Campbell modeling a pair of the brand’s leggings as Jett gushes about how “fire” his wife looks. Many brands have since participated in the trend by describing their own products in Jett Campbell’s words, and often using various audio clips of the creator to do so. Dunkin’, for example, set a slow pan up of one of its iced coffees stacked with doughnuts to audio of Jett fawning over his wife’s outfit at the top of the Eiffel Tower. The Las Vegas Sphere also used a clip of Jett’s flattery for its own TikTok video. For its take on the trend, Subway opted to not use the couple’s audio clip but still leveraged the phrase “Pookie is looking absolutely fire today” to describe its footlong chocolate chip cookie. Southwest Airlines took a similar approach to Subway and used the compliment to highlight one of its airplanes. And brands such as Drumstick have been adopting the term “pookie” into their vernacular more broadly by referring to their TikTok audience by the pet name. Although the trend remains prevalent, Campbell has faced criticism in recent weeks after several photos of her resurfaced, including one showing her posing in front of a Confederate flag. “At the time these photos were taken, I was 20. I didn’t fully understand the impact of my actions the way I do now,” she wrote in an apology shared to her Instagram Story. @dunkin a quintissential pookie ‘fit #pookie #hat #donuthat ♬ original sound - Campbell Puckett When your card declines at therapy TikTok loves dark humor—after all, the hashtags #DarkHumor and #DarkHumour have a collective 46.5 billion views. This trend showcases that morbid sense of humor through TikTok users joking about what would happen if their credit or debit card declined at the end of a therapy session. Often, that hypothetical outcome is their therapist doing something to re-traumatize them, such as “bring[ing] out the people you used to work with” or “bring[ing] you back to 2019 to relive the last 5 years again.” Dylan Mulvaney, who last year was caught in an internet firestorm after posting a video with a Bud Light can adorned with her face, joked about the situation by saying her therapist would “bring out the beer can” to reverse the effects of her therapy session. Duolingo, also known for its dark sense of humor, jumped on the trend by saying a therapist would put someone who couldn’t pay for their therapy session “in a room with the duolingo owl.” And Scrub Daddy’s chosen form of trauma is to “bring out a nasty regular sponge.” @duolingo me vs you pookie - who would win? #duolingo #luckyduo ♬ remember you - Dominurmom “We’re ____, of course we ____” This trend is far less dark than its predecessor. It follows a straightforward formula of people walking alongside each other and describing various things associated with their profession, ethnicity, relationship status or other aspects of their identity. The camera swaps back-and-forth between the different people in the video, who share their own examples of traits that go along with those identities in the format of “we’re ____, of course we ____.” For example, “We’re teachers, of course we’re going to have earrings to match every holiday,” or, “We work in marketing, of course our screen time is 8 hours a day.” Several brands have gotten in on the ongoing trend since it first emerged at the end of December, typically by offering users a glimpse of their employees or office culture. Lancôme highlighted its brand ambassadors, including actress Amanda Seyfried, while Qatar Airways had members of its cabin crew describe their shared experiences. PBS Kids racked up over 1.2 million views and 220,000 likes on a video of various employees walking through its office and highlighting its whimsical workplace culture, from wearing costumes of different characters to sending messages to one another via a toy trolley. @pbs We’re PBS, so of course we are good at sharing our things with @PBS KIDS 💙 #pbs #publicmedia #pbskids #trend ♬ original sound - PBS Sad hamster meme A melancholy violin melody has been making the rounds on TikTok, though that audio clip, which has been used in more than 31,000 videos so far, is bafflingly titled “Sad hamster meme sound.” Many TikTokers have been accordingly adding that audio to videos featuring the “sad hamster” in question—a distorted image of a hamster with huge, haunting black eyes. These videos typically leverage the emotional rodent to reflect the sadness or despair they feel in scenarios such as being too nervous to order a meal at the cash register or being called on to answer a question in class. Several brands have begun to take part in the trend, which started to gain popularity at the end of last week. Skincare brand Clarins USA used the hamster to illustrate how someone might feel after being told “you don’t need anymore skincare,” and mobile game Clash of Clans had the hamster stand in for one of its characters the player became angry at. Bubble tea chain Liho Tea used the trend to highlight a new promotion on its drinks. @clarinsusa Can’t stop, won’t stop 🛍️ #skincareaddict #imjustagirl #relatable #sadhamster ♬ оригинальный звук - afexix родной

5 new TikTok trends that brands can follow

Featured Stories