Why brands should avoid ‘West Elm Caleb’ and similar TikTok trends

“West Elm Caleb” may be one of the latest trends to take social media by storm, but that doesn't mean brands necessarily should hop on it. Brands including Ruggable, Hellmann’s and the Uno card game jumped on the hashtag #WestElmCaleb when it started trending on TikTok last week, after several women realized they had been dating the same person. That person turned out to be a 25-year-old whose dating profiles say that he is a designer for furniture company West Elm—thus the nickname West Elm Caleb. Stories of West Elm Caleb allegedly ghosting and sending unwanted pictures of himself quickly began circulating on TikTok. Subscribe to Ad Age now for the latest industry news and analysis. West Elm did not respond to a request to comment and it has not been confirmed whether Caleb does in fact work for the company. Despite little being known about the real Caleb, other brands pounced on the popular hashtag, making jokes at West Elm Caleb’s expense. “Should brands capitalize on the trend? Absolutely not,” Joe Federer, founder and chief strategy officer of An Internet Reference, a social media marketing agency, said via email. “There are particular kinds of internet drama that work for brands—the white/gold/blue/black dress, Yanny vs Laurel, even big YouTuber drama can sometimes be fun to wade into. But when the drama is happening between normal, non-celebrities—especially without both sides of a story—it's a bad look.” Ashley Holyfield, a strategist with R/GA, also doesn't think brands should attempt to capitalize on this trend. “This originally started with women calling out bad dating behavior, but quickly spiraled into internet strangers doxxing him and calling for West Elm to fire Caleb. The reality is brands using this situation in the hopes of having their own viral moment are cosigning undeserved consequences,” Holyfield said via email. Don’t miss the latest news. Sign up for Ad Age newsletters here. As the hashtag began making the rounds on social media, Ruggable made a TikTok with the text: “None of these rugs were designed by West Elm Caleb.” Although many TikTok users “liked” the video, and Caraway Home even responded with its own joke, Ruggable eventually deleted its TikTok. A Ruggable spokesperson declined to comment on why the video was removed. Uno also hopped on the TikTok trend, commenting beneath a recent West Elm video, “Let us know if you need a skip card.” Keepler, a dating app, posted a TikTok that appeared to show a large ad on the side of a building that said, “Red Flags: 6’ 4, mustache, furniture designer,” which is a description of Caleb. @keeplerapp looking out for the nyc girlies 👀 #westelmcaleb ♬ Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) - Edison Lighthouse Hellmann’s mayonnaise also tweeted “West Elm Caleb thinks mayo is spicy.” West Elm Caleb thinks mayo is spicy.— Hellmann's (@Hellmanns) January 20, 2022 Subscribe to Ad Age now for the latest industry news and analysis.

Why brands should avoid ‘West Elm Caleb’ and similar TikTok trends

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