🚨Trend Watch: SHEEEEESHH 🥶🥶😈🥶❄️
A new trend that is just quintessentially Gen Z (did someone say anti-establishment?)
As a side effect of writing this post, I've heard the word shheeeeeeesh over 700 times. The things we do for research.
For Gen Z, trends frequently revolve around sounds. Platforms like TikTok enable these sounds to be repeated and expressed in different ways. Here comes SHEEEEESSHH:
The origins:
This big trend, and we'd venture to say a shift in language, started with this video of King Julio the frog. It's important to watch it to understand the way the word sheeeeeesshh is being used.
Why is this an important trend to pay attention to?
This is a new way we're using language to show identity. Anyone who understands this and uses it correctly is valid 😩✅✅ (more to come on that later) - they understand Gen Z humor and the Gen Z perspective on life.
Brief historical background:
The word sheesh has been around for ages. For some reason, Google says there was even a spike in the use of the word sheesh in the early 1800s. It's always been, or at least as of late, an interjection of sorts, a phrase used to show surprise, astonishment, or even a response to a flash of anger. "Sheesh, I did not expect that". "Sheesh, calm down Brian". Yet for reasons we'll explore, it's now so much more.
The early adopters
Many of the early videos took the sound and were all about the boys. Initially, this was a male-leaning trend showcasing some male humor. Whether it was the boys at your funeral, the boys coming to visit your bougainvillea, getting married (lots of these), or just showing the boys your home improvement skills (also lots of these), they all are a light-hearted way at poking fun at stereotypical lifestyles.
How it's used
Creators do a few other things along with the trend.
Many of the videos show people pointing to their veins and making the "fboy" face. Hence the use of the 🥶 emoji. Ice in the veins!
Valid ✅. Another word being tossed around in this context is "valid". People are using this as a way to express "validity", but it's easier to call it in this sense authenticity. Not the authenticity every marketer will say brands need to demonstrate, the authenticity that's unique to Gen Z.
Variations
Naturally, some variations came into play. We saw some girls (another hilarious example) hopping on the trend as well, and people taking the trend and applying it to some uncomfortable situations (like being a cleaner in a nursing home). Likely many more variations to come in the coming days as it diversifies in audience.
Peak Popularity
Likely, the trend is reaching its peak popularity right now. We're seeing more popular creators jump on like Josh Richards, and even some very progressive/forward-thinking brands and sports teams jumping on as well. What we can expect to see next from this trend is more brands and popular creators jumping on, and then the trend slowly fading out of popularity. However, the next ~3-5 days are perfect times for brands to join in the party. Even if peak popularity starts declining, brands are typically expected to be a bit further behind the curve and still are accepted for being a bit later.
What does this all say about Gen Z?
One common theme we see is that nearly all of these videos are poking fun at tradition. Showing people your lawn, your garden, your grill, your new balances, your newly built porch. And in different ways that has been seen in the trend variations as well, using humor to lighten the subject and share a perspective on how uncomfortable it can be to work in an environment where nobody looks like you.
These videos are also all forward-looking. None of us, Gen Z, have an idea what our lives will look like in 10 years, 20 years. None of us have an idea who we're going to marry (sure maybe some of us), where we're going to live, or even what the world will look like. But we know the boys will be there with us when we get there 😎.
Sheeesshh is quintessentially Gen Z. It's Gen Z language, it's Gen Z humor, it's a Gen Z perspective on the world. It's an anti-establishment, anti-traditional, anti-old world humor that furthers a strong and independent identity that this generation is building.
Quick plug: I won't frequently plug any of the work we're doing at GenZ Designs, but in this case, I thought it could be helpful for readers. On Wednesday, April 14th, we're hosting "The State of Gen Z: Advertising in 2021", a live event to share the release of our recent research on new Gen Z x advertising behaviors. Attendees will receive access to our 60-page report, along with exclusive insights and perspectives from our team.
Thanks for reading!! See ya next time.