As we all know, TikTok is a rapidly growing social media platform with an extensive and active audience (that recently surpassed 1 billion users). Trends on the platform can gain substantial traction overnight and continue to grow in popularity over weeks or months. If creators and brands want to capitalize on trending sounds or viral videos, they have to move quickly since their shelf time constantly fluctuates. Let’s take a look at some top-performing trends from the last few months and dive a little deeper into their claims to fame.
What was originally planned to be a sweet, loving reunion between a long distance couple turned into the TikTok community becoming the world’s largest team of investigators. After the clip was posted on September 21st by Lauren Zarras, there have been millions of comments, stitches, and articles written that attempt to break down what took place on our screens. From the likes of Rolling Stone, Insider Magazine, The New York Post, and E! News, this trend truly takes the cake this month.
Many users are dedicating their free time to a full detective operation – zooming in, slowing down, and analyzing every last move of the infamous couch guy to try and provide some insight into the situation. These internet sleuths have full theories and explanations to support their reasoning; simply search up “Couch Guy” and you will be flooded with opinions from the masses.
Here’s the original TikTok by @laurenzarras – with 62.2M views and counting, take a look for yourself on the situation that played out.
This trend is perhaps the most unique of them all, and actually dates all the way back to a 2007 Starburst commercial. The idea was put into motion for the launch of their ‘Berries and Cream’ flavoured Starburst, where they decided to create a character called the ‘Little Lad’ to promote the product. In the commercial, a man dressed up in a colonial outfit performs a quick song and dance. Nearly 15 years later, this sound has landed on a new platform and is receiving notoriety like never before. With over 1.6B views of the #berriesandcream hashtag and countless remixes, this strange trend is one of the most iconic of 2021.
TikTok creators put their own twist on the audio. Besides performing the original dance, they use it to explain something that makes them feel like a historical, old-fashioned lad. The creativity and comedic element that these videos hold is worthy of your screen time today – some of TikTok’s favourite renditions for your viewing pleasure are by @thereallittlelad, @sydwingold, and @salamadunk.
Emily Mariko has quickly become a TikTok sensation, commonly known for her cooking and recipe videos that she makes from her home in California. After debuting in 2020, Emily focused more on fashion and try-on content. Once she began posting more cooking videos in 2021, that’s when her engagement really started to skyrocket. What does she do differently that makes her stand out? She took the rice bowl world by storm and shared a video of how she creates a simple yet delicious meal out of salmon leftovers. With over 12.4M views, and thousands of recreations of her infamous recipe, Emily is now a popular resource for culinary inspo. We can safely assume there will be an influx of millennial chefs surfacing in the coming years, with the salmon rice bowl now a sworn-by staple.
Here is one of the first iconic ‘Salmon Bowl’ videos – check out the other videos on her profile to find a recipe you may like. Food has a way of bringing people together like nothing else, and Emily’s presence on TikTok proves just that.
This sound, originating from Jack Hartmann’s kids music channel, has now been coined by TikTok users as the background music when they are describing in text what they believe is ‘cap’ – meaning untrue and a lie. What once started as innocent music to educate children, has turned into the theme song of users sharing their distaste for certain human behaviour or experiences. This sound found its way onto thousands of For You pages this month, and is still on the rise. A few ‘cap’ videos to provide you with a better understanding of this trend are one from @katiefeeneyy, @thereal.ceyana, and @stephaniemoka.
These up and coming trends are the perfect opportunity for brands and creators to capitalize on before they fall off the ever-changing trend radar. If you haven’t seen them yet, now is the time to check them out and create content geared towards your audience – you never know how long these trends will last.
