Social media trends: Toting and unloading

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.

Bowls over totes: Emily Mariko, the influencer famous for her salmon bowls and lavish wedding, is the subject of some online backlash for releasing a canvas tote that retails for $120—around 3x as much as a large L.L.Bean Boat and Tote bag, and at least 10x more than those Trader Joe’s ones you can get by the cash register. One marketer told the New York Times that people are “very fatigued by influencers…especially as they’re struggling to buy the groceries to put in said tote bag.”

Even still, both colors are already listed as sold out on Mariko’s website, so perhaps the fan fervor is still there…or inventory was low to begin with.

Elmo needs a minute: What started as an innocent tweet from a Sesame Street character asking how everyone was doing turned into a collective internet trauma dump this week. It was mostly all jokes, but Elmo’s earnest response had some people tearing up. Other characters from the show also joined in to offer everyone support.

In an interview with the Link in Bio newsletter earlier this month, Christina Vittas, Sesame Workshop’s social media manager, said that in her “three years working on @Elmo, [she has] come to realize that adults need a little Elmo in their lives, too.”

Burying the lead? Perhaps sensing an Achilles-heel moment from competitor Stanley, which is navigating the fallout from people learning that there are traces of lead in the brand’s cups, 2020’s “it”-girl water-bottle brand Hydro Flask asked, “Remember us?” The brand posted a series of images on its Instagram account assuring people that it “does not use lead in its sealing process” and that the brand “[aims] for a higher standard.” Now, it seems that Klean Kanteen is hopping on the anti-lead messaging train, too. (A page on Stanley’s website states that while lead is used in its vacuum-sealing process, it’s “inaccessible to consumers.”)

Securing the (dirt)bag: The man behind the meme Instagram account @nolitadirtbag, known for parodying a very specific type of New Yorker south of Houston, has created a custom order for Cava. Not the brand collab we were expecting.

Awards-season darlings: TikToker Julian Sewell, who parodied the Oscars’ format for announcing awards, was interviewed in Vulture about one of his fictional actresses, Paloma Diamond. We can’t wait to see who Paloma secures her first brand deal with.

Another Oscar-worthy performance? TikToker Andrea Valls’s impression of cow milk after being taken back by an oat-milk drinker. The “Got Milk?” team might be making some calls.