Hollywood's Biggest Franchise?

A dark, dystopian series where human heads fight a war against people who have CCTV cameras, speakers and televisions for heads has more than 65 BILLION views on YouTube last year alone.

Welcome to ‘Skibidi Toilet’.

Meanwhile, traditional Hollywood is going more mass than ever before, focusing on stories that appeal to everybody, rather than a specific audience (think: Inside Out 2, which is now one of the top ten grossing movies of all time).

Let’s dig in to why this is important…

Skibidi Is Gen Alpha Humour

It is perhaps the first sign of what Gen Alpha humour is and will look like.

For evidence that this trend is being driven by the youngest generation currently on the internet, let’s turn to The Washington Post:

“Skibidi Toilet themed toys will soon hit the shelves of every major retailer… And licensing agreements aimed at expanding the brand into products like Skibidi Toilet bedding, apparel, plush toys, and more have been inked, according to the company.”

And if you want to see the visible excitement that Gen Alpha has about Skibidi Toilet, look no further than this guy.

Skibidi Is About To Become a Multiverse

If hundreds of products weren’t enough, this story about people living in toilets is about to become a Hollywood franchise, led by one of the great action directors of our time.

Believe it or not, it is currently being developed for TV and film, with Michael Bay at the helm.

According to movie executive Adam Goodman, the series “could be the next Transformers or could be a Marvel’s universe.”

There Is No ‘Internet’ Anymore

Modern social platform algorithms (in addition to other factors like the rise of newsletters and private groups on WhatsApp etc.) have taken us to a point where there is your internet and my internet.

Extrapolate that for the entire world and it becomes incredibly complicated to know what is trending right now. As it stands, we live in an online world where we will rarely see the same feeds, unless our interests are incredibly similar.

What does this mean for marketers?

Brands need to be aware of the different tones of voice and humour appreciated by Gen Alpha, even if that isn’t currently the primary target audience.

Remember, this audience are the younger siblings, children and grandchildren of current customers, as well as future consumers.

Even more importantly for marketers, this is a great reminder:

What is trending in your social media feed is not necessarily the same as what is trending in that of your customer.