Your ATTN Please || Saturday, 27 September

September 27, 2025

Meme posts, popular phrases and Pilates are more political than you’d think.

This isn’t your uncle’s crackpot conspiracy theory. In fact, you don’t have to surf the net for long before running into popular memes, incel slang and wellness trends - many of which have roots in political leanings and aim to normalise particular ideologies. Not everything’s inherently political, but much of today’s online culture today carries some ulterior motive - and marketers need to be careful.

- Devin Pike, Guest Editor 💜

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WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MARKETING TODAY?

Instagram hits 3 billion users, X’s algorithm will soon be “purely AI” & brands love what’s in your pocket

Instagram reaches 3 billion users!!

Don’t get it twisted. This is an insane number. It’s literally more than a third of all people IN EXISTENCE. And those people are logging into the app EVERY MONTH. Also remember this doesn’t even count China, the second-most populous nation on the planet, as the apps aren’t available there. This obviously reestablishes Meta as the official king of the castle (of the social media apps), with FB, WhatsApp and Insta leading the way in overall usage.

In celebration, Instagram has announced some new features, including one that will highlight the topics that you’ve been engaging with within Reels, which you’ll then be able to edit to indicate what you want to see more or less of. There’s also a second update: a UI update including a change in its icons, and moving the DM button from the top of the screen to the bottom, so that all three of the app’s main functions are easily accessible along that function bar. Both of these highlight that Reels remain the star of the show on the platform.

X is moving to a customizable AI-powered algorithm. God help us for whatever that means.

Apparently, it’s going to show users more of what they like, as the platform scrambles for more ways to keep people on the app. Great in theory, however execution has never been Elon's strongest suit. He took to X to explain:

“The algorithm will be purely AI by November, with significant progress along the way. We will open source the algorithm every two weeks or so. By November or certainly December, you will be able to adjust your feed dynamically just by asking Grok.”

We shall see, I guess. 

Brands have their eyes on your wallets.. and phones… and keys.

Y’all went crazy for the Rhode Skin phone case, now look what you’ve done. Glossier has a keychain to hold it’s lipbalm, so does 818 tequila for its minis, and now you're a little walking advertisement 😊 cute!

On the other side of the coin, it’s nice to see brands engaging in a little whimsy (mixed with functionality, of course).These fun and chic executions have people engaging with brands in a more meaningful way, encouraging self-expression and community building. Because you know damn well when you see someone with the same Balm Dot Com keychain you’re gonna have a girlypop moment – that’s just science.

Hey, do you like YAP?

If so, why not share it with a friend? The more we grow this thing, the more resources we can put into making it awesome for you. Even if every subscriber invites just 1 person to YAP, we’ll meet our growth goal for 2025. So, you in?

DEEP DIVE

Pilates, power, and the politics of the feed

“Pilates is just about long, lean limbs and a better core,” they said. “Slang is just internet fun,” they said. But as always: nothing online is just anything.

In today’s algorithm-driven world, aesthetics are ideology. Memes are vectors. And trends are Trojan horses for culture wars, quietly reshaping what we buy, how we behave, and who we become. It's all happening one “Pilates arm” or “high-value woman” reel at a time.

This isn’t a tinfoil-hat conspiracy. It’s the reality of the internet in 2025: subcultures spread through style. And if you're a marketer, brand strategist, or content creator, you’re not just selling products - you’re selling meaning. So, let’s talk about what’s hitching a ride in your messaging.

Aesthetics are never apolitical.

Let’s start with the rise of the Pilates body. Soft, slim and sculpted. She floats through TikTok in aloe sets and drinks matcha with marine collagen. She’s calm, controlled and curated af. And she’s very much in. As for her mirror opposite, strength training, curves, and "thicc girl summer"? Notably out. That’s no coincidence, in fact it’s a pattern we’ve seen before. Historically, the body ideal contracts when the world gets politically conservative.

Think about it: the 1950s = post-war domesticity + wasp waists. The early 2000s = post-9/11 control + heroine chic Now? We’re once again in an era of rising authoritarianism, economic anxiety, and restriction. Cue the small, contained, “disciplined” body.

Pilates isn’t inherently political. But the trend toward smallness, especially when paired with traditional femininity and “clean girl” aesthetics, reflects a longing for order, safety, and control. Which, if you squint, is also the emotional terrain of a lot of modern reactionary politics.

Now let’s pivot to a very different corner of the internet: 4chan, Reddit, and the incel-verse.

Yes, the one filled with rage-posting basement dwellers yelling about "Stacys" and "Chads". But here’s the twist: their ideas have gone mainstream… and they did it without algorithmic support.

Because incel forums are too toxic for most platforms, their influence didn’t spread through standard recommendation engines. It spread through memes. Through irony. Through TikToks that toe the line between parody and endorsement. Through jokes people didn’t realise were quoting actual hate groups.

You’ve probably heard or seen:

  • “High-value woman”

  • “Body count” discourse

  • “Alpha/beta male” hierarchies

  • “Cope,” “femcel,” “looksmaxxing,” “sigma grindset”

These aren't just edgy buzzwords. They’re pieces of ideology, repackaged in language that sounds catchy, punchy, and scrollable. The more we use them, the more we normalise their worldview, even if we don’t mean to.

Here’s where it gets especially spicy: there’s overlap.

The rise of the “Pilates girlie” dovetails with another trend: the “tradwife” aesthetic. Think 1950s femininity, soft-core submission, and an Instagram filter over domestic labour. Suddenly, womanhood is about being tiny, tidy, and tame. Even as these trends present as self-care or empowerment, they’re often entangled with:

  • A rejection of loud feminism

  • A celebration of “traditional roles”

  • An emphasis on aesthetic over autonomy

And brands are capitalizing on it, many pushing a product promising quiet, slim, graceful, and obedient without realising it. Whether it's an app, a diet tea, or a set of pink dumbbells, you might just be echoing a value system that shrinks more than your waistline.

So, wtf do marketers do with this?

Breathe. You don’t need to throw your whole strategy out the window. But you do need to start looking at trends with x-ray vision. Ask yourself:

  • Where did this language come from? If your copywriter pulls a TikTok phrase: check its origin. “High-value” didn’t come from nowhere.

  • What does this aesthetic signal? If your campaign leans into minimalism or “clean girl", think about what that might mean beyond the surface.

  • Who benefits from this trend? Are you empowering your audience? Or subtly reinforcing the systems that shrink them?

  • Can I subvert instead of follow? Maybe your Pilates content can celebrate strength and softness. Maybe your dating app ad can use viral language, but flip the script.

Look, you’re not responsible for all of culture.

But you sure as hell are contributing to it. When memes carry ideology, and aesthetics carry politics, the line between trend and worldview gets blurry fast. And as a marketer, you walk that line every day. That doesn’t mean avoiding anything that could be problematic. It means getting smarter about the signals you send. So yes, Pilates is political. Incel language has infected the internet. And your next campaign could either unknowingly amplify those forces, or gently, artfully, question them.

Choose wisely. Your audience already is.

TREND PLUG

"I’m wearing a nice, dark shade of exhaustion under my eyes"

This trend's for all my baggy-eyed, sleep-deprived people out there (probably most of you reading this).

This audio comes from creator Nathan J Lloyd, who posts comedic and relatable content. In his talking video, he jokes:

“So today I’m wearing a nice dark shade of exhaustion under my eyes... hope you like it.” 

People are pairing the audio with scenarios that explain why they look tired or worn out. From surviving Monday mornings, to late night binge watching, or even parent life, the trend taps into humour we can all relate to in one way or another.

How you can jump on this trend:

Think of a moment in your day to day life that left you looking, or feeling, completely drained. You could even twist the scenario and mention a moment where you felt tired in situations where you shouldn’t be. Film yourself lip-syncing to the audio, and let the exhaustion speak for itself.

A few ideas to get you started:

  • “When your job overloads you with work”

  • “When someone asks why I'm on coffee number 3”

  • “POV: its Monday morning and I'm already tired”

- Bella Vlasich, Intern

FOR THE GROUP CHAT

ASK THE EDITOR

I'm a life coach and post a ton on social media. Just wondering if I should be putting a call to action on all my posts to get people to sign up for my course? - Jessica

Hey Jessica!

The purpose of your content is to build your brand, not sell to people. And if your content's too pushy, people will get annoyed with you really quickly. So stop thinking about CTAs that get people to sign up for something.

Instead, think about a CTA that will engage your audience. Ask a question or get them to ask you questions. This is building engagement and community, which will eventually turn into leads. On the other hand, creating salesy content will just get people to tune you out.

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

Not going viral yet?

We get it. Creating content that does numbers is harder than it looks. But doing those big numbers is the fastest way to grow your brand. So if you’re tired of throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what sticks, you’re in luck. Because making our clients go viral is kinda what we do every single day.

WHAT DO YA THINK?

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