Internet Ghosts: Part 130
5/1: asparagus Katniss, pickle collabs, asmr at Claire's, Jlo on Linkedin, suitcase drama, and more...
A bit of the internet:
Counting or Saying the Alphabet on Silent | The latest TikTok trend features people partnering with themselves to sing the alphabet, or count to a number while on mute. It sounds easy, but quickly falls apart once the timing slips. It plays off the old duet chain era of TikTok, where creators collaborated to build songs together. This version, however, is less about successfully completing the task and more about watching the coordination collapse. It serves as a reminder that the fun is in the messy process and a perfect final product is optional for good social.
John Summit vs Rimowa | DJ and producer John Summit destroyed his Rimowa suitcase this week in an extravagant display after traveling for a show and discovering his luggage had been damaged for the sixth time. He smashed it, broke it apart, and ultimately set it on fire, prompting many online to say he was “crashing out” over the incident. In response to the buzz, Away set its own luggage on fire and turned the moment into a paid ad.
Making Songs Out of Text with AI | Ever felt like your text threads are hilarious but never had the right way to share them on TikTok? We’ve found the answer. Users are taking to the AI music app Suno to edit their text threads into songs. The app has various styles like Emo and Gospel that users then bring to CapCut to add memes and reactions in a final video.
But My Name Is | In this new TikTok trend, people are jokingly disregarding things they’re being told because, thankfully, that’s not their name! These videos loosely follow the prompt, “when I’m yelled at to X, but my name is X so it’s okay!”
What brands are up to:
The Devil Wears Prada 2 | “Are you wearing the…?” The brand partnerships? Yeah, we are. With the launch of The Devil Wears Prada 2, brands are leaning into the florals and fashion that come with the return of this iconic film. Starbucks kicked things off with a secret menu in its app featuring drinks inspired by the characters. M&M’s followed with an all-cerulean pack. Even Build-A-Bear joined in, recreating a classic scene from the original film through a carousel post. Find all the collaborations and social promotions for the film here.
Office Romance w/ JLo on LinkedIn | Jennifer Lopez took to LinkedIn this week to update her profile in promotion of her new Netflix film, Office Romance. In a launch video, she leans into her title as the “queen of rom-coms,” highlighting her past roles in the genre. This all culminates in a full profile refresh, complete with updated roles, a new header, and the trailer for the film.
Claire's Rebrand w/ASMR | Claire’s is positioning its latest comeback around Gen Alpha with the launch of “A Girl SMR,” a campaign that taps into the generation’s obsession with sensory, ASMR content. Built around new Claire’s products like slime and squishies, the campaign encourages fans to not just consume content, but create their own on teen social apps like Coverstar, alongside a summer push for in-person experiences. This marks the start of Claire’s becoming an experience-driven brand built for this new socially-native generation.
Account to check out:
@grillospickles (on TikTok and Instagram) has been making strides on social by showing off their pickle products in a native and social-first way. Their approach has been lo-fi, native, and meme-like.
Why They’re Worth A Peek: On Instagram, the brand rolls out a ton of unique partnerships to insert the pickle brand in all corners of products like: Burt’s Bees, LiquidIV, and CampSnap. Co-signing various collabs and products not only brings in borrowed interest, but the manner in which they infuse green, pickles and their branding overall is unique. On TikTok, the account regularly hits the same drumbeat with a POV style shot encouraging people to try their product and seeing their reaction. It’s a format right in style with the way social content gets served and shared.
Platform News:
Meta Updates:
Meta's native insights get a reorder focusing on views, and skip rates
Edits app lets you create videos using AI from text prompts, photos or videos
Instagram is updating their algorithm by not recommending accounts that post unoriginal photo or carousel content (discouraging aggregators), in addition to reels
TikTok Updates:
TikTok allows users to add keywords to content upon upload
X Updates:
X launches a chat app
Snapchat Updates:
Snap launches AI sponsored chatbots that deliver as Snaps
Extra Credit Scrolling:
