Is TikTok where Gen Z marketing goes to die?
How the 'Gen Z marketing script' trend found success... with Boomers.
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MrBeast, Amazon sued by contestants on ‘Beast Games’ competition show
Over the past month or so, things haven't exactly been smooth sailing for MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson). It started with accusations of fraud from a former employee, and then his close friend, Ava Tyson, faced backlash over allegations that she sent inappropriate messages to a fan who was a minor. But the situation really escalated when YouTuber Rosanna Pansino began sharing horror stories from the set of MrBeast's upcoming competition show. Todd Spangler breaks down the latest in a new piece for Variety.
On September 16, a lawsuit was filed against MrBeast and Amazon on behalf of five participants in the “Beast Games” reality show.
For context, “Beast Games” is rumoured to be the biggest competition show ever, with a winning prize of $5 million. Around 2,000 people allegedly competed in Las Vegas for a spot, with 1,000 contestants making it to the final Amazon Prime show.
Rosanna had shared stories of participants being denied food, medication, and even new clothes during filming — claims that now appear to be corroborated by this new lawsuit.
The lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of all “Beast Games” contestants, alleging multiple claims related to the mistreatment and neglect they endured.
As Spangler continues, the suit states that production created conditions that led to emotional breakdowns while also denying participants proper meals, rest breaks, and more.
“MrBeast’s MRB2024 production company and independent production firm Off One’s Base LLC — among other things — failed to pay minimum wages and overtime; failed to prevent sexual harassment….and exposed contestants to “‘dangerous circumstances and conditions as a condition of their employment,’” he writes.
The plaintiffs seem to be focusing on the issue of sexual harassment, with contestants alleging that the show created a “hostile” environment for women.
“I expected to be challenged, but I didn’t think I would be treated like nothing — less than nothing. And as one of the women, I can say it absolutely felt like a hostile environment for us,” one statement from a contestant reads. “We honestly could not have been respected less — as people, much less employees — if they tried.”
Read the piece via Variety.
Her ‘skinny’ videos divided TikTok. She says they’re ‘what the viewers want.’
Speaking of controversial creators, Liv Schmidt — who grew her following after sharing posts about staying thin and her daily diet — has been banned from TikTok. In a new piece for The Wall Street Journal, Sara Ashley O’Brien chats with the creator about her content and online presence.
For those unfamiliar with Liv, she’s a 22-year-old corporate worker who recently amassed over 670K followers by posting videos about her dedication to staying thin. She has no formal training in health or fitness.
Her videos included “her daily food consumption and weight-related tips like ‘how to avoid the freshman 15’ and ‘how to stop emotional eating at your 9-5 job,” O’Brien explains.
Her content (unsurprisingly) sparked backlash, with many concerned that her videos promote disordered eating and toxic messaging around body image. This ultimately led to her account being banned.
“A TikTok spokesperson said Schmidt’s account had been removed as a result of community guideline violations but declined to be more specific,” the article continues. “The morning after her account was taken down, Schmidt was confused and upset. She had not received any warning from the app about her videos running afoul of its body image policies.”
Despite her TikTok ban, Liv doesn’t seem keen on changing her content. After making a new account on the platform, the bio initially read: “It’s not a sin to want to be thin. Saving America from obesity 1 person @ a time.”
She has also defended her content, stating that it’s aimed at adults, particularly women in corporate jobs, adding, “We all have the option to follow and block any content we want.”
“For me, it was way easier to cut out 300 calories of food than to burn 300 calories in exercise, especially if you’re a career person with a limited amount of time,” Liv explains.
While it’s unclear how Liv will fare on TikTok after being banned, she appears to be doing well on Instagram — launching a paid, subscribers-only chat, where hundreds of people pay $9.99 monthly for access.
Read the piece via The Wall Street Journal.
I really can’t tell if you’re serious
Creators like Liv often face accusations of “rage-baiting” or “engagement-baiting”—essentially trying to provoke viewers to gain attention and subsequently boost their following. In a new piece for The Atlantic, Kaitlyn Tiffany explores a new kind of engagement-baiting, where creators intentionally try to confuse their audience.
Tiffany begins by reflecting on her recent encounters with Instagram Reels, where she frequently comes across creators who are frankly just confusing. She recalls watching a woman explain why she rejected her boyfriend’s proposal at a Taylor Swift concert— not because she didn’t want to marry him, but because she had “no real passion for Taylor Swift.”
With the comment sections under these videos filled with questions and general bewilderment, Tiffany argues that “our befuddlement seems to be the point.”
“These videos are short and, like all other Instagram Reels, they auto-play on a loop. That’s how they succeed. The people who produce them don’t want me to understand whether they’re sincere; they care only that I take the time to wonder—and that the loop keeps looping while I do,” she explains.
The auto-play algorithms on TikTok and Reels have changed the metrics creators focus on. As Tiffany notes, while likes, shares, and comments remain important, views have become even more significant.
“Racking up a lot of views is crucial for achieving greater visibility, as well as moneymaking opportunities— and confusing people is a pretty innovative way to do it,” Tiffany continues.
These videos don’t necessarily have to make a viewer angry or frustrated but just have to be weird enough that a user pauses and reconsiders the intentions of the clip.
Emily Hund, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, suggests that creators have adopted this approach in response to years of users questioning the authenticity of influencers.
These “engagement-bait” creators “are messing with our conceptions of authenticity in a way that really makes the viewer feel it… Previous genres of influencer content didn’t incite the viewer to be so uncomfortable,” Hund tells Tiffany.
Read the full story via The Atlantic.
YouTube Hype gives smaller creators a place to shine
However, the days of creators relying on “engagement-bait” might be numbered. YouTube’s new feature, Hype, is designed to help smaller channels grow their following and help audiences discover new content. David Pierce explains the update for The Verge.
Hype is a new promotional system within YouTube. The platform is introducing a “Hype” button under each video and a leaderboard that features the “Most-Hyped” videos from creators with fewer than half a million subscribers.
“It’s focused specifically on smaller channels and on what people specifically choose to recommend rather than just what they watch,” Pierce writes.
While uplifting smaller channels, the Hype feature also aims to build stronger communities on YouTube by letting viewers feel “more involved” and supporting their favourite creators' success.
“There’s something alluring about being early to something cool, to being the one to share it with the world — it makes people feel invested in the things they’re promoting,” the journalist explains. “In the era of duets and stitches and remixes, viewers are creators and creators are viewers, and giving everyone a way to grow made sense to YouTube.”
Pierce describes the mechanism behind Hype as “complicated,” with various requirements for both creators and users.
Videos can only be hyped within the first seven days of posting, and users are limited to three hypes per week. Each hype is worth a specific number of points, which inversely correlates with the channel’s subscriber count.
“The idea is that smaller channels should be able to hit the leaderboard, too, so each hype to a smaller channel will be worth more points,” Pierce continues. “The 100 videos with the most total points hit the top of the leaderboard.”
The leaderboards will be country-specific, with a long-term goal of making them personalised to a user.
Read the story via The Verge.
The 'Gen Z marketing script' trend is not giving
In a new piece for Mashable, Elena Cavender explores a recent marketing trend on TikTok: scripts written by Gen Z but delivered by someone who is clearly not part of the demographic.
Many of these videos have gone viral, including one featuring an older man and woman giving a tour of Northumberland Zoo in England. In the video, they use phrases like “main character energy” and describe various animals as “queen” or “brat.”
The video has since accumulated almost 8 million views, with over 1 million likes.
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Many TikTok users seem to enjoy this type of content, which isn't necessarily surprising as it's the latest take on businesses leveraging Gen Z for engagement. Previously, “Gen Z interns” would edit videos and include bloopers, for instance.
While this content strategy is seemingly effective for businesses, Cavender cautions that it may have a short lifespan — particularly since Gen Z is extremely sceptical of online marketing.
“Milking invented generational difference is tired, and a TikTok trend explicitly created for marketing is never much fun. They fill our feeds with even more advertisements masquerading as culture,” she concludes.
Read the piece via Mashable.
The gen z script videos were ok the first 4 I saw. All after that need to stop.