13frogs

[13frogs]

Isn't it kind of wild how big brands have become so integrated into our social media that we don't really think of how we are being advertised to? It has been quite a few years since I've used Tumblr, and my original account is long gone. Still, I remember seeing Denny's absolutely chaotic posts:

In hindsight, this was a bit of a blueprint for other major brands to follow suit, with the other brand being pretty well known for something similar, Wendy's Twitter.

And with the expansion of so many different social media platforms, all of these brands keep following each one, always having their "social media intern" posting something "they probably shouldn't," or the brand begins to capitalize on our mythologized versions of their mascots. I think the most prominent example of this would be the Duolingo owl, which I remember when I was in high school (quite some time ago) and laughing at evil Duo owl memes on iFunny.

Now, they have capitalized on this idea of being a menacing, murderous owl and become unabashedly chaotic in every sense of the word. Especially with the rise of TikTok and its extreme prevalence in how many people consume media, we are constantly interacting with big brands like Duolingo and not necessarily recognizing the idea that these are still means of advertising the brand, and our constant engagement is further boosting this brand.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMj929A9f/ -> Scrub Daddy and Duolingo??

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMj92bgsL/ -> Duo Owl being Duo Owl

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMj9j18mS/ -> Duo Owl being chaotic per usual

Especially with this new weird chapter of Scrub Daddy, Duolingo and the Teletubbies in this weird Maury-esque plot line (my fyp has been flooded with this, and I seemingly can't escape it; pls help me)

Now, it has even progressed further with the adoption of so many trends, like the happy and sad cats being used by KFC Portugal:

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMj9jAe4x/

I feel like I have become so desensitized by these forms of engagement that it wasn't until recently that I fully realized that these brands are only playing into all of these trends and engaging with regular creators as a means to be hip and cool-

- in order to not only stay relevant but also to have people speak about them in contexts beyond what they are selling. Especially with that one guy who "makes ads" for certain brands and products. Now, bigger brands are reaching out to him to ask him to make "ads" for their product. I initially scrolled away, thinking about how funny it is for these big brands to be contacting smaller creators to make these cheesy and purposefully bad ads, that they are being fun and engaging with their audiences, but it is really a cheap and lazy way to have someone advertise for them?

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMj92uc8H/

I highly doubt Pepsi paid him any money for this? It is kind of weird and a little icky in hindsight now?

I feel like I have become so desensitized to all of these forms of advertising. Still, thinking about it, my Fyp has been absolutely flooded with "top Amazon products for this month" or this week's "Costco finds" and so many other TikToks and reels telling how badly I need to buy X, Y or Z. Admittedly, I am a SLAVE to capitalism so it works more than I care to admit, especially with some of those lego promos or anything cutesy, but it such a wild thing to think about -- how ads are everywhere, and so integrated with our everyday lives.