TRENDING: ACT ON DEMAND IMPROV GROUP & DO YOU HAVE A MESSAGE
ACT ON DEMAND IMPROV GROUP
A Pennsylvania improv group Act On Demand has unexpectedly gone viral on TikTok after posting clips of their improv class exercises, where members perform quick prompts like “world’s worst airline pilot” or “world’s worst therapist.” What made the videos spread was the internet’s reaction to them, feeling like a mini reality show. Some viewers found the performances awkward or “cringe,” but that ironically fuelled the trend, with millions of views, parodies, edits, and even fan accounts dedicated to specific members (often identified by outfits like “Red Shirt” or “Black Hoodie”). The result is a strange but fascinating TikTok phenomenon where ironic enjoyment turned a small improv group into a niche internet fandom.
Brand opportunities
This moment highlights how TikTok culture often rallies around authentic, unscripted content, even when it’s imperfect. For brands, the takeaway is that raw, personality-driven content can perform just as well as polished campaigns. Leaning into improv-style prompts, quick creative challenges, or spontaneous team reactions can create highly shareable moments that feel human, participatory, and native to the platform.
“DO YOU HAVE A MESSAGE FOR THE NEXT PERSON?”
This workplace trend plays out like a chain reaction. One colleague asks another, “Do you have a message for the next person?” The person, usually confused, responds with something like “what?”, which then becomes the exact message delivered to the next colleague. The cycle continues around the office, with each person passing along the increasingly nonsensical message. The humour comes from the confusion, timing, and watching the same reaction ripple through different people.
Brand opportunities
This format is perfect for showcasing team culture and personality within the workplace. Brands can film quick interactions between staff members, letting the message evolve as it moves through different departments or roles. It’s simple to produce, highly repeatable, and highlights the people behind the brand while tapping into relatable office humour.
TASTE TESTS ON THE STREET
Brands are increasingly adopting vox pop–style street taste tests as a marketing strategy because the format feels authentic, spontaneous, and highly shareable on social media. Instead of polished ads, audiences respond to real reactions from everyday people trying products for the first time. These quick, on-the-street interviews create social proof, highlight genuine feedback, and make the content feel native to platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The result is a low-production, high-engagement format that builds trust while showcasing the product in a relatable, entertaining way.
Brand opportunities
Brands can adopt this strategy by filming quick, casual street interviews where everyday people try their product and share honest first impressions. The key is to keep the setup simple, showing authentic reactions rather than scripted responses. This format works well for launches, flavour tests, or product comparisons, and it helps build trust because audiences see real people interacting with the product. When edited in a fast, social-first style, these clips feel native to TikTok and Instagram and are highly shareable.
BRANDS KILLING IT
MCDONALDS CEO SAGA
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski recently went viral after posting a promotional video taste-testing the brand’s new Big Arch burger. In the clip, he describes the burger in very corporate language, calling it a “product”, before taking what viewers dubbed a very small, hesitant bite. The awkward delivery quickly became internet fodder, with creators stitching and parodying the clip across TikTok. What was meant to be a straightforward promo turned into a cultural moment as people joked that the CEO looked like he’d never eaten McDonald’s before. This quickly turned into ‘beef’ between fast food chain CEOs globally, from Burger King, A&W, Wendys, and many more in a battle to seem the most down to earth.
Brand opportunities
This moment highlights how quickly the internet can turn even polished corporate content into meme culture. Rather than ignoring the attention, McDonald’s leaned into the conversation by posting about the burger and inviting people to “take a bite” themselves, while rival brands and creators joined the joke. The takeaway for brands is that imperfect or awkward moments can sometimes drive more engagement than polished campaigns. When something unexpected goes viral, leaning into the humour and participating in the conversation can extend the life of the moment and keep the brand culturally relevant.
