Social media trends: Ban vibes and Katespiracies

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.

Feeling abandoned: After the House passed a bill that would require TikTok parent company ByteDance to sell its stake in the app or cease operations in the US, the threat of a TikTok ban is once again looming—and many TikTokers are understandably upset. In addition to questioning the motivations behind the bill and criticizing its Congressional supporters, app users are sharing their concerns about the effects a ban could have on their incomes, career prospects, and…general happiness. Some have also questioned the wisdom of banning an app used extensively by young people in a presidential election year when millions of Gen Zers will be eligible to vote.

Gone girl, continued? As people continue to speculate on the status of the Princess of Wales and whether the most recent photos and video of her are real or fake, official accounts are getting in the mix. NYC Sanitation, the City of New York, the Washington Department of Natural Resources, and Dublin Airport are among the accounts on X posting about Princess Catherine.

In what’s surely unrelated to everything going on, the Royal Family is hiring a communications assistant. Crisis PR folks, it’s your time to shine.

No assumptions: An ad from the National Down Syndrome Society about the ripple effects that negative assumptions have on the lives of people with Down Syndrome is getting major engagement. The ad currently has more than 29 million views and 6.5 million likes on TikTok, as well as more than 216k likes on Instagram.

Talk to your grandparents: If you were wondering what’s going on over on Facebook, it’s apparently one big AI engagement fest that is seemingly focused on older users. If you see your relatives engaging with a “photo” of Crab Jesus, please initiate a conversation on media literacy.

Big news for the little guys: Dunkin’ Donuts is honoring short kings this spring by renaming its small iced coffee in the Dunkin’ app. We just hope the target audience can reach the drive-thru window.