Social media trends: Lotion puns and zip-off Uggs

Each week, Marketing Brew recaps what people are talking about on social media, the trends that took over our feeds, and how marketers are responding.

Ceratonin: Why exactly, was actor Michael Cera walking down the street with two massive bags of lotion? It turned out to be a CeraVe marketing stunt. Creator @haleyybaylee posted a sponsored “run to the pharmacy” video where Cera was shown writing his name on the brand’s lotion bottles so that they read Michael CeraVe. Another creator, @lukasbattle, posted a video of a gift box he received from the brand that contained CeraVe products with Cera’s name and likeness on it. Someone thought of this pun and ran with it, and frankly, we (as well as other viewers) respect it.

A new approach to layering: Ugg is advertising its Classic Ultra Ultra Tall boots—and people are losing their minds online. For the low, discounted price of $420, you can get a pair of Uggs that are reminiscent of those zip-off sweatpants people wore in the 2000s and are also somehow attracting comparisons to candy corn. Some people are buying the boots just to show what they look like in real life. Whether virality was the intent with the ads or designing the boots in general, we have to imagine Ugg has seen a sales bump on these things as a result.

Double take: People are sharing scammy video ads they’ve encountered on their timelines that appear to feature celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and Selena Gomez offering things like $10 MacBook Pros and Le Creuset sets available “due to a packaging error.” Some speculate that the videos could be AI. Whatever it is…it definitely seems questionable.

Another thing that’s icky? Having enough brand gift boxes to fill a closet (or possibly an entire room) like creator @darcymcqueenyyy does, as she recently shared in an unboxing video to end all unboxing videos. Based on the comments and stitches, let’s just say people seem less than impressed with the behind-the-scenes look.

Broad City is back…ed up: New York’s most iconic millennial duo has reunited, but not for the reason you’d think. Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer can be seen in a three-minute ad for Miralax, which, despite its promotional content, feels pretty close to the feel of their old show. Maybe that’s why it seems to be resonating.

PookieTok: If you’re not watching influencer couple Jett and Campbell, aka Pookie…we have very different FYPs. The question is, what will be the next brand to capitalize on the Pookie trend now that the couple’s really taking off?