Issue #10: OK Boomer, the Jessica Jingle, and #HomeDepot TikTok videos
A sporadic download of things from around the internet that are piquing my interest right now, intellectualised for your enjoyment.
Republished from my main gig on the We Are Social blog, which can be found here.
1. OK Boomer is a symptom of a divided digital society
‘OK Boomer’ is used predominantly by young people as a dismissive response to opinions and behaviours that signify outdated values and beliefs. As with most things on the internet, casual usage has been tracked back a few years, but since it became a trend on TikTok, it’s really blown up. Here’s an example in context:
OK Boomer addresses a breakdown in intergenerational communications. Technology has the ability to enable nuanced and sophisticated interactions, but in an increasingly noisy digital space, communication is regressing. The loudest voices get the most attention, and against this backdrop, healthy conversation is losing ground. Whether Boomers vs. Millennials or liberals vs. conservatives, at a time when nuanced communication should be integral, OK Boomer is proof that digital narratives have instead become about picking between two sides.
TL;DR: OK Boomer is a manifestation of, and observation on, society’s current collective communication problem.
2. The Home Depot jingle is blowing up on TikTok
Back in 2018, the Home Depot launched an ad in the US with a backing track that was pretty dramatic for a spot about tiles. It went unnoticed for a while… until about a month ago, when someone with a TikTok account realised the song was quite catchy. Since then, Home Depot has been riding a wave of internet fame. Here’s an example.
Videos tagged #HomeDepot on TikTok have been viewed over 63 million times, and in the last month, there’s been an 80% increase in searches for “Home Depot theme song” on Google. There are a few fairly obvious reasons for this overnight success, including, but not limited to:
The power of a catchy song in a cultural landscape dictated by TikTok.
The power of out-of-context humour, which is what so many memes are built on.
The instant familiarity of Home Depot for teens in America. It isn’t necessarily a brand they love, but as one of the most successful home retailers in the US, most will have been in one.
Most importantly, though, the rapid cycle of TikTok fame is driven by two key factors – creativity and novelty. This means the more unexpected the raw ingredients are, the better. And what could be more unexpected than the Home Depot jingle being repurposed as a Gen Z anthem?
TL;DR: On TikTok, success is driven by creativity and novelty. Against this backdrop, the more unexpected the raw ingredients are, the better.
3. The Jessica Jingle is an example of how movies get famous online
South Korean black comedy Parasite opened in the US in early October, and has since made $11 million in the box office, making it the biggest foreign language film of 2019. Its popularity is largely tied to aesthetically gorgeous art direction and globally relevant narratives around class systems and wealth divides. But part of its success has also been attributed to the Jessica Jingle – a 10-second clip of a main character taking a moment to remember the persona she’s about to adopt in a scam. Click here for a video of it on a loop for 10-minutes.
The mnemonic rhythm she uses – which is commonly used in South Korean schools to help children memorise facts – makes language barriers irrelevant. It’s satisfying to listen to, regardless of your mother tongue. And that’s what makes it so perfectly sharable – in a landscape where ASMR and #OddlySatisfying content are so commonplace, mnemonic content fits right in.
The clip appears in the trailer as well as the feature, and was so widely shared that distributor NEON tweeted a video tutorial of how to say the words featuring the actress. You can even download it as a ringtone. Each of these amplifications demonstrates that NEON understands how movies are consumed and mutated online – in satisfying morsels of bite-sized content.
TL;DR: On the internet, long-form content is often chopped up and re-distributed. The full package is still important, but bite-sized moments should be satisfying in their own right.
4. @polly_pick_pocket is an unboxing channel for Instagram
This is an Instagram feed dedicated to one Polly Pocket collector’s vast collection of toys, which will make many Millennials warm and fuzzy with nostalgic joy. Admittedly, there are no boxes involved in @polly_pick_pocket’s content. But these close-up videos of pastel-coloured compacts – each handled by a woman with a brighly-coloured manicure – are unquestionably an off-shoot of the video category that blew up on YouTube back in the early 2010s.
These posts are satisfying for multiple reasons:
They’re nostalgic. Polly Pocket’s hey-day spanned the late ‘80s and ‘90s, which aligns perfectly with Millennial childhood.
They’re satisfying. The soft clicks of opening, closing and playing with these products bears resemblance to ASMR-esque content.
They’re the next best thing to an offline experience. The close-up footage has a tactile physicality, which is hugely valuable in the digital space.
Unboxing channels were initially a niche pocket of YouTube. But @polly_pick_pocket is proof that the concept itself – satisfying close-up footage of kids’ toys – was powerful enough to be adapted to appeal to any audience, regardless of demographic or platform.
TL;DR: Content trends are often conceived in niche pockets of the internet, but those with staying power will mutate to fit formats and topics across platforms and demographics.
Other important internet finds:
‘Anniversaries that count’
Twitter (October 28th)‘Kim Kardashian recreates the Elle Woods Harvard video essay’
Twitter (October 31st)‘The Eternal Celebrity’
Why is this interesting? (November 1st)‘Brunchella is the latest internet scandal’
Facebook (November 1st)‘Twitter’s in-house gyno gives a medical perspective on why TI is the worst’
Twitter (November 6th)‘Instagram is testing a new video editing tool called Reels that copies TikTok’s best features’
The Verge (November 12th)