Brands are ‘looking for a man in finance’—what’s next for the TikTok trend’s creator

There’s a new song of the summer and it originated on TikTok. Dozens of brands, from Fruit of the Loom to Mr. Clean, are already leaning into the viral earworm by putting their own twists on the song or sending free products to the creator behind the trending tune, Megan Boni. Boni’s simple but catchy song about the search for her ideal romantic partner has taken off on TikTok. At this point, its lyrics—“I’m looking for a man in finance, trust fund, six-five, blue eyes”—are nearly inescapable on the platform, whether in videos from other creators participating in the trend, users showing off husbands, boyfriends or colleagues who fit Boni’s description, or in comments scattered across the platform. @girl_on_couch Can someone make this into an actual song plz just for funzies ♬ original sound - Girl On Couch In fact, the imaginary six-foot-five, blue-eyed finance professional Boni conceptualizes in her song is nowhere close to her actual dream man, she told Ad Age. “I’m single, I’m turning 27, and all my best friends are getting engaged [and] getting married,” said Boni, whose birthday is today. “I have a couple of friends who are still single, too, and I kind of wanted to make fun of single girls who are constantly complaining about being single and are like, ‘Why is it so hard [to find someone]?’ but then have these insane needs. Definitely satire, but not a lot of people got that.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Brands get on board As of this writing, Boni’s video introducing the now-viral song to TikTok has amassed nearly 20 million views, 1.5 million likes and more than 8,000 comments—many of them from brands. Mr. Clean racked up 20,000 likes on its flirtatious comment to Boni that reads, “I’m 6'5["]! And blue eyes 😏.” Publishing platform Wattpad joked, “the only ones I know that fit that description are fictional,” and LinkedIn wrote, “need a job description to use this beat!” Crocs, meanwhile, modified Boni’s lyrics to be more relevant to its brand, writing, “Looking for a man outside, hiking, wears crocs, green eyes.” “I don’t remember what the first brand [to comment] was, but I definitely remember Mr. Clean commenting,” Boni said. “I was like, ‘Holy shit, I’m obsessed with you, man.’” Before her song propelled her to TikTok virality, Boni had been leveraging the platform to share comedy skits and other humor-focused content as a hobby while she worked full-time as a sales representative at licensed sports apparel manufacturer Outerstuff, she said. The only brand that she had worked with in her four years creating TikTok content was fashion company White Fox Boutique, which sent her some free clothing and requested she make a few videos in exchange, she said. So, when big-name brands began commenting on her video, “my first instinct, because I didn’t do this full-time, was like, ‘Send me free shit!’” Boni said. She responded to comments from Mr. Clean and Crocs with, “Send me free cleaning products I beg!!!!” and “Oh my god please send me free crocs,” respectively. Both brands fulfilled Boni’s requests—Crocs mailed her a free pair of shoes and Procter & Gamble-owned Mr. Clean sent a box of its Magic Eraser sponges, she said. A slew of other brands have sent her PR packages, too, including YSL Beauty (“even though I don’t wear makeup,” Boni said), Poppi, Tate’s Bake Shop and Fruit of the Loom, she said. “We do content creation for a number of brands, and we don’t engage in just anything—it has to really align with the brand,” said Dave Kersey, chief media officer at GSD&M. “We can’t just take too many risks,” added Kersey, whose agency handles social media for Fruit of the Loom. Ad Age Small Agency Conference & Awards Join us July 23 & 24 in Boston Learn more here After the agency’s paid social team saw Boni’s song taking off on TikTok and told Kersey, “We have to do something with this,” GSD&M’s Fruit of the Loom team “did some quick analysis of [Boni], her background, and her audience” by scrolling through her past content, skimming the comments sections of her videos and using social media tools to evaluate Boni’s engagement rate and other metrics. “She aligned perfectly with Fruit of the Loom,” Kersey said. So, GSD&M and the brand connected with Boni through her TikTok DMs and sent her several pairs of underwear, he said. Boni highlighted that outreach from Fruit of the Loom, along with Crocs, in a video last week that currently sits at just under 525,000 views. She also jokingly points out in the video that Mr. Clean hadn’t responded to her DMs. The cleaning brand later reached out to offer her the aforementioned Magic Erasers, she said. @girl_on_couch Still more work to be done. Also the song is coming. Patience. ♬ Scheming - Instrumental Slowed - you lost “Until you find your man in finance, we've got you ❤️,” Fruit of the Loom commented on the video. Mr. Clean acknowledged its late response to her message, writing, “Sorry I was cleaning.” TikTok trendsetter to content creator Brands aren’t only participating in the trend by engaging directly with Boni. Dozens have leveraged her viral song (or the various remixes of it that are circulating on TikTok) for videos, including Duolingo, the NFL, H&R Block, Universal Pictures, Jack in the Box, SpongeBob SquarePants, and both United Airlines and airBaltic. @duolingo hot owl summer loading… #finance #songofthesummer ♬ Looking for a man tima remix - Tima Pages Most brands either choose mascots, employees or characters that align with the man Boni’s song describes—as the videos from SpongeBob and the NFL do—or use the structure of the song but change its lyrics to describe a product or something other than a tall man with blue eyes, as United did to promote the amenities of its Polaris business class. Others focused on the pursuit of a man in finance, such as Joe & the Juice and salad bowl restaurant chain Just Salad. The latter set Boni’s song to video clips of tall men wearing the vests often associated with men who work in finance lining up at the restaurant for their lunch break, captioning the video, “look no further than a midtown Just Salad during lunchtime.” @justsalad look no further than a midtown Just Salad during lunchtime. #nyc #newyorkcity #midtown #finance #lunch ♬ original sound - Girl On Couch In response to her sudden virality and the 50,000 new TikTok followers her trending song has netted her, Boni has put in her two-weeks notice with her current employer to focus on content creation full-time, she said. She’s eager to dedicate more of her time and energy to acting and her comedy content—and potentially partner with brands that align with her “lazy girl vibe,” such as a food delivery app, she said. She’s also releasing an official version of her song at the end of this week, according to her manager, which could take it beyond the For You page. “It’s so insane—I’m getting offers from record labels,” Boni said. “And I’m like, “I’m not a pop star, but thank you.’”

Brands are ‘looking for a man in finance’—what’s next for the TikTok trend’s creator

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