Thread by @abbieasr

Very niche “brands being in on the joke” TikTok analysis thread:

It’s possible that you’ve noticed giant brands on TikTok have changed their logos. NASCAR, Ocean Spray, Tinder, the Washington Post, Tampax, and even TikTok itself have all changed their profile pictures.

This all stems from user @/emilyzugay who has made a series of very viral satirical videos which re-design major brands logos. (The joke is that she designs them horribly. They are good videos and she’s hilariously apathetic).

For the brands changing their profile pictures, it’s great publicity. It makes their mega-corporations appear silly, in-on-the-joke, and capable of laughing at themselves.

In fact it’s such good publicity, virtually every brand is BEGGING her to do their logo next.

And while some TikTok users are getting really excited about these brands’ “sense of humor” others are starting to highlight the free promotion they are getting as well as the free labor Emily is doing.

It’ll be interesting to see how long brands try to keep this “joke” going. We have a history of quickly growing tired of brands being silly like this. And for good reason. They are corporations, not people.

But every marketing team clearly have their eyes on this right now.

My guess is that people are going to get sick of this fast. Because do we really think Amazon begging a TikToker for free promo is cute?

Are we comfortable feeling like Amazon is “in on our jokes?”

Might just be me, but this doesn’t sit well next to all the ✨exploitation✨