Social media trends: red carpet chaos and lip gloss phone cases

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.

Baffling behavior: Influencers were a hot topic at recent awards shows—for better or worse. When TikToker @harrylovespandas asked actors like America Ferrera and Kathryn Hahn whether they wanted a “gay son or thot daughter” at the People's Choice Awards, it sparked some conversation around what’s appropriate, as well as the value of influencers versus journalists on red carpets.

To add fuel to the fire, a YouTube “prankster” went onstage with the cast and crew of Oppenheimer at the BAFTAs to accept the award for best film. Singer Billie Eilish was filmed asking why there were so many TikTokers at the PCAs, and some people seemed to agree with her sentiment, leading us to wonder whether we’ll see fewer creators at the Oscars next month.

Taking the high Rhode: Rhode Beauty’s lip gloss-storing phone case is taking brand social media by storm, with some marketers praising the approach and brands like Graza, Benefit Cosmetics, Milani Cosmetics, and Kiehl’s posting their own DIY parodies of the product. The phone case has also drawn attention for other…designreasons, as well. Apologies if you now see it differently.

Other convos happening on the TL:

• An agency job posting is getting attention for its alarming use of buzzwords, causing at lease one person to joke that their health has been compromised, and another one to reminisce on when the word “ninja” was quite literally in their previous agency job title.
• Some people are wondering if microtrends are moving so fast that influencers no longer have new looks to promote, which is why barrel jeans have become a thing.
• Kylie Jenner is doing ads for mobile games again, which has some people worrying about a recession.
• The idea of child influencers continues to be terrifying, as does undisclosed AI imagery duping people on social media.

Here’s a thread of highlights from Madame Web’s marketing roll-out, which has been nothing if not entertaining.