A brief overview of what is currently trending on X in news, culture, and/or trending hashtags and formats.
#HappyHalloween: People are celebrating by sharing costumes and spooky (or hilarious) Halloween moments from TV and movies.
Dodgers: The LA Dodgers beat the NY Yankees in Game 5 of the World Series last night and Angelinos are celebrating.
Kimmel: Late night host Jimmy Kimmel dug into Donald Trump’s garbage man “cosplay” stunt on last night’s show.
A deeper dive into a subject that is impacting culture on a macro level, beyond just the social space.
WDYM You Hate Gay Halloween?
What It Is: If 2024’s Halloween costumes are one thing, they’re next-level specific. People celebrating the holiday with meme or pop culture costumes are truly giving it their all this year. These costumes are unhinged, creative, and usually based on hyper-specific cultural moments we’ve seen throughout the year. Appropriately, this trend has produced a more specific trend of people sharing posts starting with, “I hate gay Halloween. What do you mean you’re… [extremely online costume choice]” to highlight how members of the LGBTQIA+ community went unnecessarily hard for their costumes that are truly “IYKYK.” Think, “Female Oompa Loompa from Glasgow’s Willy Wonka Experience,” or Cosmo the Queen of Melrose.
The Brand Takeaway: We all know there’s a high value in leveraging pop culture and trending moments for brands to join social conversations. What needs to be recognized is that we receive most of our iconic and popular moments in culture from the LGBTQIA+ community. This community is at the forefront of culture and creating trends — something all brands should be aware of before co-opting or jumping in on something that might feel tone-deaf coming from outside the community.
That said, this year’s cultural costumes have led to some fun, full-circle moments in which purely online jokes (many based on popular brands) enter the real world and come back to social for another chance of virality. Even outside of Halloween, people and brands translating the URL to IRL melds our online and real-world communities and connects people on yet another level. Brands should look for opportunities to foster these connections and the potential they have to create moments instead of just tapping into those already established. And remember, the internet loves a deep cut. The more specific you can get with your cultural references, often the better.
Four must-click links that crossed our feeds today.
Want to make your Facetimes more interesting? Do it from your stuffed animal’s POV like Petunia. 🧸
Shaun White and Nina Dobrev are finally engaged! 💍
Leading ladies Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo sang live on set for Wicked 🫧🧹
Channing Tatum and Zoë Kravitz call it quits and ended their engagement after 3 years together 🤯
Blitz - Theaters, 11.1
A Real Pain - Theaters, 11.1
Like Water for Chocolate - Max, 11.3
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - Theaters, 11.3
Holiday Seasoning - Jimmy Fallon
Confessions (20th Anniversary Edition) - Usher
Songs Of A Lost World - The Cure
Last Leaf on the Tree - Willie Nelson
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