Don’t “Fellow Kids” Yourself

Can anyone successfully pretend to be cool? No, probably not.

Blog

by Dave Robson

Latest from the Blog

Overview of Quebec’s Bill 25

The implementation of Law 25 is staged, spanning from September 22, 2022, to September 22, 2024. Throughout this transitional phase, both private enterprises and public institutions engaged in Quebec’s market are mandated to adapt to new obligations and rights concerning the safeguarding of personal data.

Impact on Marketing and Advertising

Working With Influencers 101

Lesson one: no one pays in exposure.   The influencer industry is worth $21 billion dollars. That’s a lot of content generated, users engaged, and money exchanged. And yet, the space can appear daunting or dubious. But that shouldn’t stop you from working with influencers. Depending on what vertical you are in, adding influencer generated […]

The Everything App Will Amount to Nothing

Elon’s cringey press release about X as the “everything app” is a case of a billionaire smelling his own farts for too long.

The Google Ads Algorithm and the (Dreaded) Learning Period

Google Ads’ advanced algorithms learn from vast datasets to predict outcomes. Tweaking campaigns may reset this process and trigger a learning period.

How Can AI Improve Your SEO?

This article is only 35% written by ChatGPT!

Take a second and watch this clip. We promise it’s relevant.

When Steve Buscemi’s clueless undercover cop character asks a group of teens, “How do you do, fellow kids?” the joke couldn’t be clearer. Buscemi is transparently old. No one is fooled. And his attempt is a little gross.

That’s why this one scene in particular has become shorthand for a particular kind of communication strategy. When a brand (or whoever) attempts to co-opt the latest memes, uses (or abuses) new slang, or otherwise emulates youth culture, they’re having a “fellow kids” moment. Which may backfire and get linked somewhere designed to shame them.

Here’s McDonald’s UK trying to pander to youth with a 2015 meme . . . in 2018. And screwing it up.

Or, consider this Michael Scott joke the New Zealand Police used regarding road deaths.

And here’s Ajit Pai, whom we’ve previously called out for bad content marketing, trying to do as many Fellow Kids things as possible. Note that his youth audience now consider him the most hated person on the internet. Also, that girl dancing on the right is a Pizza Gate conspiracy theorist. Hard to believe that Pai went to Harvard.

Basically, using a Fellow Kids manoeuvre is a bit like being a fifty-something dude in skinny jeans hitting on a twenty-something at a club. Or like being the mom who comes to watch cheerleading practice in her old cheerleading uniform. Or the school guidance counsellor who pretends he can skateboard and play guitar to better relate to his students. It’s transparent, tone-deaf, and dumb.

Some brands are pretty good at engaging with internet culture. Take Wendy’s. There’s no doubt in our minds that the Wendy’s PR team keeps up with memes and reddit sh*tposting hourly, though. They put in the time.

Most brands don’t, though, and their attempts to co-opt youth culture come across as clumsy and insincere.