Potential TikTok ban—how brands are posting about the possible shutdown

The threat of TikTok being banned in the U.S. has loomed over social media managers for years now. With Sunday—the day the ban is set to take effect—swiftly approaching, and TikTok warning it will “go dark” that day if the Supreme Court upholds the ban, several brands are openly acknowledging TikTok’s potential shutdown in a flurry of social posts. The latest: TikTok ban law upheld by the Supreme Court In recent days, brands such as Duolingo, Dr. Squatch, Lyft, Carnival Cruise Line and the Empire State Building have addressed the potential TikTok ban with posts across social media platforms. Most, if not all, of these posts lean into the comedic and sarcasm style of TikTok, with brands joking about everything from moving to China in order to continue using the platform to learning Mandarin. Many have also nodded to the surging popularity of Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, another Chinese-owned social platform that is attracting so-called “TikTok refugees.” Dr. Squatch was among the brands to make the jump to RedNote amid the TikTok drama, announcing the launch of its new account with a TikTok video of the brand’s mascot “running to red note just in case.” Also read: How TikTok alternatives are competing for brands and creators @drsquatch So I guess we’re all going to red note now? #lemon8 #tiktokban #rednote ♬ sonido original - ? As thousands of TikTok users have flooded RedNote this week, Duolingo has had the advantage of being an early adopter of the platform. The language learning app launched a RedNote account in May 2024 as part an ongoing global expansion of its social strategy and had already amassed over 400,000 followers on the platform before U.S. TikTok users began migrating there. Duolingo has also leaned into the plethora of memes about new RedNote users learning Mandarin in order to understand the posts on the platform, which are largely written or spoken in the language. The brand racked up 190,000 likes and nearly 16 million views on a post on X, formerly Twitter, where it quipped “oh so NOW you’re learning mandarin.” Indeed, Duolingo saw a 216% spike in new Mandarin learners in the U.S. between Dec. 1 and Jan. 13, according to another X post from the brand. On TikTok, Duolingo shared two videos set in an airport as a nod to TikTok users joking about moving to China. The comments sections of both of Duolingo’s videos have become a hub for dozens of brand social media managers to share jokes about the TikTok ban or lament the app’s potential shutdown. “Smiling through the pain,” Pringles commented on one video, while Cheez-It garnered over 41,000 likes on a comment begging Duolingo to “TAKE ME WITH YOU” on the latter’s “flight” to China. @duolingo pack it up, we’re going to Red Note #duolingo #tiktokban ♬ original sound - alex But brand comments on TikToks about the looming ban have spread beyond Duolingo’s videos. On one user’s video about them learning how to navigate RedNote from their nail tech at a salon, Ulta Beauty commented “We’re really all in this together ✨,” and Zillow wrote “here for the tutorial 😭😭.” Like Duolingo, tea company Celestial Seasonings tapped into the slew of jokes about learning Mandarin, sharing a TikTok video of its sleepy bear mascot asking “Does anyone know how to say ‘I’m an eepy lil guy’ in Mandarin?” Also read: How Cetaphil is preparing for a TikTok interruption or ban @celestialseasoningstea Can any Mandarin speakers help a bestea out? #celestialseasonings #tea #tiktok #fyp #socialmedia ♬ original sound - celestialseasoningstea Microsoft similarly nodded to a meme that’s spread across social media in recent days, involving people asking for a different platform to be banned instead of TikTok. Microsoft Teams has been frequently pitched as a potential sacrifice, but Microsoft responded to one X post proposing that exchange with a simple “No ❤️.“ No ❤️ https://t.co/TLHpohGpd0— Microsoft 365 (@Microsoft365) January 16, 2025 Drumstick leveraged a trending Chinese song used across many videos about the TikTok ban—“This Life’s Fate (今生缘)” by Chuan Zi—on a timelapse video showing the brand redesigning its packaging to swap the English text for Chinese characters. @drumstick new year new me #drumstick #tiktok #tiktokban #rednote #mandarin #satire ♬ original sound - alex Lyft shared several videos joking about how the absence of TikTok would make waiting for a Lyft driver to arrive or commuting to work much more boring. It also sarcastically presented the interactive tablets often found on the car seat headrests of rideshare vehicles as an alternative to TikTok, writing “at least we’ll always have these bad boys to entertain us!!!???” on one of its videos. Animals participated in discussions about the TikTok ban, too. Connecticut’s Mystic Aquarium shared a TikTok of one of its sea lions “speaking [its] truth” ahead of the ban with a series of grunts. @mysticaquariumct Shout it for the ones in the back ♬ original sound - mads mitch The Empire State Building opted to use the TikTok ban as an opportunity to build on its series of social posts about its relationships with other famous buildings around the world (such as Big Ben). In a TikTok, the Empire State Building divulged its plan to “make the shanghai tower fall in love with [it] before jan 19th.” @empirestatebldg SHOOTING MY SHOT WHEN I CAN #nyc #empirestatebuilding #newyork #tiktokban ♬ original sound - Empire State Building Brands gathered on Threads to discuss the impending TikTok ban, too. Prebiotic soda brand Poppi kicked off a conversation about RedNote with a post asking other social media managers if they had set up accounts on that platform yet. Responses ranged from Sephora’s “We’re still manifesting the clock app doesn’t stop ticking” to Cinnabon's “i should probably just go outside and touch grass.” Beyond Meat made its own Threads post about the rise of RedNote, writing, “It’s like I always say: please don't make us learn another new social media app. We’re all very tired.” Wendy’s, unsurprisingly, took a more comedic approach to its quip on Threads, referencing a popular meme about the long wait for the release of the game “Grand Theft Auto VI.” As of yesterday, Threads users had collectively shared over 149,000 posts about the TikTok ban. View on Threads

Potential TikTok ban—how brands are posting about the possible shutdown

Featured Stories