[018] Wednesday vibe check: Rushtok is back, japanese walking and everything is rage bait now
(save yourself the brain rot)
It’s Wednesday, and you know what that means…
Another weekly “vibe check”, where I fill you in on the general “vibe” of social media - what everyone’s talking about, the brand content I’ve noticed and the trends that have started to pop up.
Inside today’s edition:
The vibe of the week — what’s trending on social and swirling in the zeitgeist
Some brand content to keep you inspired
Trends to watch
Let’s get into it!
Some brand content to keep you inspired (reminder: my big weekly scroll stopper is sent out on Monday’s! Here’s this week’s)
Rare beauty scratch and sniff posters - as someone who lived in NYC for 4 years, I would never sniff a poster there as there’s a 80ish % chance it will have urine on it. Nonetheless, seeing IRL activations always piques my interest, and I love watching humans be curious.
Figma partnered with Dude with Sign for National Thank Your Designer Day, and designers everywhere wiped away a single happy tear.
Figma (again!) with this tried and tested trend of showing people old photos of themselves - the nostalgia factor always hits for me.
Frida following up from the breast milk truck by calling for taste testers who are “former babies”. I love me some witty copy.
I’ve kept track so that you don’t have to :)
The one and only gold labubu- execute this trend by holding something special and ridiculous (bonus points for animals).
Since rush tok is back - I’d love to see some brands submit their pitches for rush!
Not quite news, but still relevant - this is what everyone’s talking about on socials right now…
Everything is rage bait now
This newsletter was very well timed considering the American Eagle Eugenics drama and the SKIMS face sculpting product launch (which gives vibes of post-facelift recovery). The more I see these moments (Sabrina Carpenter’s recent album cover also comes to mind), the more I’m convinced that rage bait is the currency of the moment. And I hate it!
Last week it was walking with a weighted vest, now we’re doing Japanese Walking
ICYMI, everything must be optimised in the year 2025. We can’t just walk, we have to walk with a weighted vest, or in this case, using short bursts in a method known as “Japanese Walking”. Coffee can’t just be coffee, it has to have collagen creamer. Water can’t just be water, it has to have chia seeds for an “internal shower”. Just let us rest!
Skindinavia has hit back at Urban Decay, and people are loving the tea
Urban Decay announced a reformulation of their cult classic “All Nighter Setting Spray”, which was originally developed by Skindinavia and protected by a patent. After launching the new formulation, Urban Decay continues to cite the product as being “award winning” - leaving Skindinavia to comment on their feed with the following:
As demonstrated by the 5k likes, people are living for this tea (myself included), but more importantly: we love to see a small brand go up against the big dogs. This is a timely reminder that in the era of social media, everyone has a voice, and a crisis like this can pick up speed very quickly.
Instagram announces Insights updates, including individual post demographics
The girls (social media managers) are gonna looooove this.
Remember Lil Tay? She debuted on OnlyFans
Lil Tay was briefly a YouTube influencer/child rapper famous for carrying large sums of cash and saying things like “I’m 9 and I’ve already got a Ferrari”. She was also the victim of a death hoax in recent years. Now, she claims to have made $1 Million in her first few days of OnlyFans. Why is this of interest? It’s yet another case of a child influencer exploring adult content after turning 18, having spent most of their (very short) life cultivating an obsessed online following. The NY Times had a great piece on this in 2024.
Gambling is trending with Australian influencers - leading to calls for legislative intervention
Australia is a nation of gamblers (we make up 1% of the global population but have 18% of the world’s slot machine, which we call “pokies”). A new trend has emerged with influencers either making gambling their niche, or using gambling as a tool for follower growth (the article quotes a former Love Island star saying “Welcome back to day 22 of betting $1 for every new Instagram follower” on a recent reel). Right now, this falls in a legal grey area, but many medical professionals are beginning to call for Government intervention, given Australia is already considered to have a “gambling problem”.