The “tube girl” trend has gone viral across social media, with thousands of users commenting on the original creator, and recreating the trend. But it’s not only the original “Tube Girl”, Sabrina Bahsoon, who has seen success from the viral trend, but also a number of other creators and brands, who jumped on the bandwagon. So how did it all happen?
Sabrina Bahsoon’s original video featuring her dancing on public transport went viral, with viewers amazed at her confidence and bravery to be completely unbothered while in public. Both the popularity of the video as well as the aspirational nature of being completely unapologetically yourself caused many users to recreate the video, starting the #tubegirleffect, which now has over 257M views. Many are even embracing this as a self-love movement, hoping that by recreating the trend, they will gain more confidence and overcome their social anxiety.
On the other hand, many users have also filmed videos of themselves failing the trend on public transport, expressing astonishment of how anyone could start dancing in a crowded train, which further contributed to the popularity of the “tube girl” videos. Sabrina Bahsoon has since seen a lot of success from her virality, partnering with various brands and events, including walking for MAC cosmetics at London Fashion Week and attending Boss and Valentino shows.
Brands can also take advantage of these trends to promote their social media, as can be seen with the beer brand Days Brewing. They initially posted a video trying to convince the company co-founders to participate in the tube girl trend, which garnered a massive 14.8M views and 2.3M likes. Subsequent videos on the topic also gained significant attention, leading to a boost in their TikTok follower count of 1225%. It’s also caused a 432% increase in web traffic to their site as well as their “best-ever week in sales”.
By ensuring that the beer brand stays fun and relevant to modern customers by participating in this TikTok trend, Days Brewing was able to grow their brand awareness, as well as stand out from their competition and big beer companies. It’s also a good example of how social media attention is able to translate into sales.