Internet Ghosts: Part 132
5/15: Instants are here, Basketball and dandruff, Butter moms and more...
A bit of the internet:
Spotify 20: Your Party of the Year(s) | To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Spotify released a time capsule version of their Wrapped series that encapsulates the user’s entire listening history: their first day on Spotify, the first song they streamed, the total number of unique songs that they’ve played, and their most-streamed artist of all time. Social is abuzz with reactions to their first song and their most-streamed artist, filling listeners with nostalgia and some cringe in their music taste.
Butter Moms | New mom aesthetic: the butter mom. Some are calling it the antithesis of the almond mom, but more than that, this aesthetic is rooted in 90s childhood nostalgia. Creators are posting videos of cartoon plastic plates with staple “butter mom” meals like frozen chicken nuggets with veggies and mac & cheese, or spaghetti with sliced white bread covered in butter.
Run This City | Over the last few weeks, the internet has been showing us how "they run their cities". People have been posting videos to "Bust Down Barbiana" while they control the flow of traffic, open doors, help trains get into the station, and it goes on. What would we do without them.
What brands are up to:
Miller Light Makes a Soccer Ball for World Cup | Miller Lite got in on the World Cup action this week with a giveaway for a specialty soccer ball, complete with enough beer pockets for a 12 pack. They didn’t stop at a novelty giveaway though, making a series of silly social posts focusing on the magical making of the genius beer ball, even claiming they were the best invention since the soccer ball (and beer).
CeraVe Taps into Basketball Lore | CeraVe named NBA legend Carmelo Anthony their “Head Coach” to promote their anti-dandruff line through a social-first strategy. The campaign threw it back to Anthony’s iconic “hoodie era,” when he was constantly seen at practices and events with his hood up. CeraVe played into the joke by asking: what if he was hiding dandruff all along? A variety of social content teased the collaboration across popular sports media accounts, ultimately leading to the reveal that Anthony was the new Head Coach of CeraVe. The campaign continued the brand’s strategy of tapping into sports fandom and internet culture, following an earlier partnership with NBA star Kevin Durant.
NFL Teams Drop Their Schedules | Happy NFL schedule release week! Along with the drop comes the annual wave of creative social reveals from teams across the league. This year did not disappoint, with franchises packing their videos full of Easter eggs, cultural references, and a few playful jabs. Here are a few of our favorites:
Tampa Bay Bucaneers
To see all the teams videos click here.
Collabs of the Week | Highlighting some brand collaborations we saw this week:
Account to check out:
Meet The 4 in the 5 (@the4inthe5), a content group made up of four friends living across New York City’s five boroughs who launched a shared TikTok and Instagram account together.
Why They’re Worth A Peek: We’re loving the way this group blends their individual personalities with their dynamic as a collective, giving followers a look into both their separate lifestyles and their life together in NYC. From attending events around the city to documenting casual day-to-day moments, their content feels authentic, energetic, and highly relatable. Their rapid growth, gaining more than 100K followers on TikTok in under four weeks proves audiences are connecting with their chemistry and storytelling style, and we’re excited to see where they go next.
Platform News:
Meta Updates:
Meta launches Instants, a feature and standalone app, that is positioned as a new way to share real-time, unfiltered photos
Meta adds Meta AI to Threads as a reply option to add more context, akin to Grok on X
Threads updates their branding and logo
Edits get more updates including: duration controls, live photo integrations, and text / sticker opacity
YouTube Updates:
YouTube has released a guideline for brands activating creators
YouTube announces a new “Buy with Google Pay” feature that lets connected TV users buy directly from ads without leaving their TV screens
TikTok Updates:
TikTok announces a few new ad updates including: TopReach which combines TopView and TopFeed, Branded Buzz which allows for mass collaboration with creators, and more
Extra Credit Scrolling:
