By Eliana Miller
Most people are on some sort of social media platform now, including businesses, corporations and brands. While everyone else is doing trends to get their likes and views up, businesses and corporations have been catching up and doing the same. While some brands are more popular for their funny skits and “trendiness,” some corporations participate in the trends that maybe should have stayed in the work companies’ drafts.
On TikTok, there are many businesses, brands and corporations that use their platform in a silly or unserious way. One main example of this is Duolingo. They use their platform to promote their language learning app. However, they tend to make jokes constantly about “breaking in” or “hurting people” if they don’t continue their Spanish lessons. While it may seem unethical or inhumane to joke about, this strategy has caused millions of views, likes, followers and downloads. While marketing your entire brand around jokes, people will expect it and want it. While brands such as Duolingo can make these jokes without repercussions, when should the line be drawn?
Political parties like “KamalaHQ” and “The Democrats” are official accounts to represent their political side. While they may be able to participate in certain trends, some things should be left behind closed doors. KamalaHQ recently posted a video to the famous “dolphin trend” on TikTok. This trend is known for spreading information about suicide and abuse, and the official KamalaHQ decided to use it for their political party opinion.
Another example of this is “The Democrats” official TikTok account. They used a recent trend going around which is based off the song “Double Life” from Despicable Me 4. They use this trend to show how Joe Biden is an evil human being in their eyes. These TikTok accounts poorly represent who they are representing and defending. No matter the political party, this shouldn’t be normalized as to how we represent something we care deeply about or for.
Tiktok trends are there for fun and entertainment, but if you are using it for a more serious topic does it still make it okay to participate? Should we be trusting our brands, companies and corporations if this is how they choose to publicize themselves; as a joke?
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