By Jack Cork, Shooglebox Team, 18th December 2024
TikTok has shaped so many of the cultural trends, conversations and entertainment highlights of 2024 it's hard to believe such a hugely popular and influential platform could be just weeks away from being banned in the US.
The TikTok business itself described the platform as being "the cultural epicentre of the internet" in its recent Year on TikTok report, and it's hard to disagree when you look back at the impact of trends like Brat Summer or the way catchphrases like "very demure" seeped into conversations way beyond the app itself.
The Buzz service from Shooglebox helps major brands spot and track TikTok trends and talking points as they start to take off – and I've been looking back through this year's Buzz archive to pull out some of the highlights.
Before I get to some of the biggest trends and some of the people who've become overnight TikTok stars this year, here's a little fun test – a 2024 Meme Calendar that rattles through 100 TikTok memes and fun trends month by month in just a few minutes. See how many you recognise:
100 TikTok Memes – Take the Test
The memes and catchphrases are the modern day equivalent of the catchphrases that used to come out of TV sitcoms and sketch shows. If you recognised even a third of the memes you're probably a keen TikToker who gets it when people use phrases like "Spectacular, give me 14 of them right now" when they like the look of something, or "Eww, brother, eww" when something disgusts them, or "Mama, a girl behind you" when there's someone in the background.
But don't worry if you struggled to recognise more than a handful and the rest left you baffled. It's the nature of TikTok – as the "In da clerb, we all fam" trend demonstrates:
Let's look at some of the really big TikTok trends of 2024 that made an impact way beyond their initial niche audiences – and I'll give you a sneak peek into Buzz to see the way the service gives subscribers lots of examples and context on each trend as it emerges.
Brat Summer
With its bright green artwork and edgy lyrics, Charli XCX's new Brat album took on a life of its own on TikTok and beyond – so much so that Collins Dictionary named "brat" their Word of the Year under its new definition of "a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude".
Brat even made its way into the US Presidential election when Charli XCX posted that "Kamala IS brat" and the Kamala Harris campaign gave their social media accounts a brat rebrand in a bid to attract younger voters – not that it helped her!
Demure
In contrast, TikTok star Jools Lebron encouraged us to be "very demure" – starting a shift towards a "demure fall". Thousands of TikTok creators, celebrities and brands posted tongue-in-cheek videos showing how to be "demure" in all kinds of situations from being demure on a Zoom call to eating a Magnum ice cream demurely. You can see more examples in this box.
Gen Z marketing scripts
"Brat" and "demure" were prominent in the Gen Z marketing scripts trend – including in a viral video from Fyfield Manor B&B in Oxfordshire which one viewer described as "The best advertising I've ever seen".
The Royal Armouries military museum in Leeds reported a 60% increase in visitor numbers after their viral Gen Z marketing TikToks with senior museum curator Mark Murray-Flutter. He told ITV News, "Suddenly people are recognising me on the train … I want people to understand and appreciate the collection I care about and this is a way for us to connect."
Mishap marketing
Another popular marketing tactic this year has been to use clips of accidents and mishaps to hook viewers before cutting to an unexpected sales message – a trend that started in Brazil and quickly spread around the world.
One of the first UK brands to have a go was Currys – who’ve been winning plaudits for the clever ways they’ve tapped into TikTok trends this year.
Mishap marketing has become a regular feature on the Currys page – from stitching with a clip of a horse kicking a chicken to advertise an air fryer to an intricate back-and-forth kickboxing video in a laptop promo this Christmas.
Some businesses have really gone to town by coming up with their own attention-grabbing scenarios rather than using existing third-party clips, like the Fei Er Cottage Chinese restaurant who staged a mock car crash to promote "the best handmade dumplings in London".
Pistachio chocolate bar
There's a big trend for people recreating menu items from restaurants and food chains that have gone viral on TikTok, like Raising Cane's chicken and dipping sauce, In-N-Out's onion-wrapped Flying Dutchman burger and a pistachio-stuffed chocolate bar from FIX Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai which has been the talk of the town this year.
The chocolate bar is named "Can't Get Khanafeh of It" inspired by the filling which is a pistachio flavoured Knafeh, an Arabic dessert made with spun pastry called kataifi.
People outside of Dubai have been making homemade versions – while chocolate businesses on TikTok Shop are capitalising on the hype by selling "dupes" for a fraction of the price of the original.
New TikTok stars of 2024
A whole host of overnight stars have been born through TikTok, whether it's Jools Lebron with their "very demure" catchphrase, Nara Smith with her distinctive style of cooking videos which other creators have been parodying, or Hawk Tuah girl who even went on to start her own podcast.
One of the biggest new stars in the UK is Chip Shop Diva" Destiny Harold who's gone viral for her videos on the Merchants Fish & Chips account – and has even secured brand deals with Last Minute holidays and Rimmel London in the process.
The biggest TikToks of 2024
The biggest TikToks of 2024 in terms of views and likes didn't quite hit the heights of previous years. The most-viewed TikTok ever is still Zach King's Harry Potter illusion which sits on 2.3 billion views, and the most-liked is Bella Poarch’s M to the B lipsync with 68 million likes. They were posted in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
This video from @pr4forgabs zooming in and out on some chocolate-covered strawberries to the Bobby Caldwell tune What You Won’t Do For Love has got 464 million views and nearly 51 million likes. There was also a copycat video from @s4r4h43 with an impressive 326 million views and 39.8 million likes.
Meanwhile a video of Australian model and content creator Leah Halton lipsyncing to Praise Jah In The Moonlight by YG Marley has racked up an incredible 950 million views and 57 million likes.
Take a look back at some of the other big trends of 2024 here.
Looking ahead to 2025
Whether or not TikTok gets a last-minute reprieve in the US, the platform has changed the way entertainment content is created and consumed – and other platforms like X and Facebook have overhauled their approaches to compete.
You can't predict where the next big trend, talking point or overnight star is going to come from. You just need to be tapped in to as many social and online content platforms as possible to be ahead of the curve in spotting the things people are doing, seeing and getting excited about.
That’s where we can help you with Buzz from Shooglebox – highlighting more than 100 new trends every month an average of three weeks before they hit peak interest. Get in touch to speak to someone in our team.
