anyone else remember doing tae bo at 6am before school?? billy blanks was my mf man
🦀 finals week HACKED + 20 years of Guy Goma + Hantavirus predicted in 2022?! + pokemon toilet paper + Stanley Tucci x TjMaxx + Insta ends encryption + Kim K quits lawyering + TikTok rolls back AI 🦀
Welcome to Silence, Brand!, a tri-weekly potluck of internet absurdity at the intersection of brand marketing and internet culture written by a collective of award-winning digital marketing professionals. If you like what we do, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
thank {yet to be named celestial life-form, check war.gov/ufo for more} it’s fridayyyy!
charli XCX just dropped a new single signifying (read: overtly stating to avoid any confusion) the beginning of her new rock era. If anyone has mastered Gen Z’s taste for the aesthetics and vibes of bygone cultural movements stripped of any conviction, it’s Charli XCX. This is not inherently bad. we stay bumpin’ that. will say tho the visuals in the “Rock Music” music video (yes, that’s the name of the song) do more to suggest the energy of rock music than the music itself. ur angels are here, mother.
the platforms are rolling things back: end-to-end encryption in DMs on Instagram, and the AI-overview on TikTok, which has been anything but helpful.
apple is adding verification checks to its education store… not cool guys…
speaking of education, the platform Canvas used by thousands of universities and schools across the country is currently being held hostage by a group named ShinyHunters, demanding ransom from individual institutions by EOD today or else the school’s data gets leaked. On finals week, no less!! OH OKAY WE JUST GOT DISCORD BACK IN ORDER TO PUT THIS OUT… THE WEEK MUST CONCLUDE NOW.
be good to yourselves this weekend.
we hope dayna does some very japanese things today.
see you monday
BYEEEEEEEE 🦀
catch our latest live? we covered some really important insights around why you shouldn’t leave your house without your “pale blue dot,” why everybody hates Jeff Bezos and his piss bottles, and so much more! catch the replay here:
🦀📈 TODAY’S POLL
📲🦀 Viral Topics
Viral ‘2026: Hantavirus’ tweet from 2022 leaves internet spooked as WHO probes rare outbreak | Today News (Livemint)
A cryptic 2022 social post reading “2023: Corona ended 2026: Hantavirus” has resurfaced and gone viral after screenshots showed the account posted only four times in 2022, prompting disbelief, humour and conspiracy theories online. The resurfacing coincides with reports—per the text you provided—of a rare Andes hantavirus outbreak linked to cruise ship MV Hondius that has been associated with at least three deaths, limited (but rare) human-to-human transmission, and ongoing international investigations and contact tracing, with authorities saying overall public health risk remains low.
TikTok Has Discovered Tae Bo, the Beloved ’90s Workout (New York Times)
Once a VHS-era fitness craze, Billy Blanks’s Tae Bo workouts are finding new life on TikTok as younger users rediscover the punch-kick-cardio routines. Fueled by nostalgia and social media trends, the comeback highlights how retro workouts are resonating with people seeking fun, intense alternatives to modern fitness culture.
🦀 TikTok has discovered the boot camp that is Billy Blanks’ Tae Bo! Billy’s fitness program was created in the 70s but gained popularity in the 90s, with another wave in 2026. Gen Z has been introduced to this total-body workout that blends boxing, dance and martial arts.
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A Mistaken Guy: The 20-Year Legacy of a Live TV Blunder (New York Times)
A mistaken identity that became internet legend: 20 years after accidentally appearing live on BBC News as a tech expert instead of a job applicant, Guy Goma reflects on the viral moment that changed his life. The story revisits the chaos, humor and unexpected aftermath of one of television’s most famous on-air blunders.
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Canvas hack: What we know about the apparent cyberattack impacting thousands of schools (Edition)
A cyberattack blamed on the group ShinyHunters briefly shut down Canvas—used by more than 30 million users across over 8,000 institutions—disrupting access to course materials and exams while the attackers posted ransom notes claiming to have accessed millions of users’ data, according to the provided text. Instructure later restored Canvas and temporarily disabled Free‑For‑Teacher accounts as schools nationwide scrambled—extending deadlines and altering finals schedules—to cope with the outage and potential data exposure, per the provided report.
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🦀 Trending
Reacting to how we dry off after a shower
Friends are taking turns showing each other how they towel dry themselves after showering. While this sounds like an innocuous activity, but there are some truly… creative methods on display. One girl even said, “I feel like I’ve never known any of my friends.
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Sound of water vs sound of…
TikTokers are comparing the sound of water to the sound of their favorite drink like iced coffee, matcha, etc. using varying audios but essentially the start of the audio is nothing or calm spa music transitioned to something upbeat and fun like Gasolina by Daddy Yankee.
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Gimme A K-R-U!!!
This audio from SpongeBob of Pearl’s Krusty Krab cheer scene is TikTokers new favorite trending audio to share scenarios of their paths of destruction like shuffling the things in their bed when they move the covers to what it’s like being a waxer.
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When they start yelling
Here’s the formula for this trend: a calm or chaotic video with on screen text that starts, “when they start to yell” + [what they’re yelling AT you with no spaces in between for added dramatic effect (i.e. stoplaughingitisntevenfunny) + “but my name is [your name here], so it’s ok.”
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Cuz we’re playing Bendy
An audio from an FVF Family prank has gone viral for the Brazilian Funk Edit it’s been given. There’s a little dance to it too you can follow along to. Full breakdown on the trend here.
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Flower, Gleam, and Glow
The opening line of the ‘Healing Incantation’ from Tangled is trending as TikTokers are using it to show how they focus/lock in.
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Much Too Good For Children
We may finally be seeing the peak of this trend although it feels like a bit of a resurgence. Essentially TikTokers are using this audio to express what they don’t intend to share (and for some it’s simply their chocolate cake)
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🦀 Brand News
Pokemon launches “world’s first” collectible toilet paper collab (Dexerto)
Crush ‘Heads Back to the ’90s’ with Nostalgic New Soda Release – But it’s Only Available For a Limited Time (Parade)
Coach Partnering With WNBA’s New York Liberty Team (WWD)
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Fan Foods Co. and Poppowls Launch Licensed Snack Portfolio Featuring Disney, Marvel and Star Wars Properties Across Major Retailers (Morningstar)
Mountain Dew Is Bringing Back the Exclusive Flavor Fans Wish Was Permanent (Allrecipes)
Apple adds verification checks to Education Store after MacBook Neo discount surge (Dexerto)
Stanley Tucci Flips the Script on His Devil Wears Prada Character in TJ Maxx Campaign. (People)
🏆🦀 Brand W
Well done Sephora! They even threw in something for John’s wife! This creator always sends her extra PR to John’s wife, now they all got PR. A true full circle moment! [dejaih]
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📡🥴🦀 Industry News
Meta Is Building an AI Agent Called ‘Hatch’ and an AI Shopping Tool in Instagram (The Information)
Agentic AI is coming for Meta users... [🦀 benton]
TikTok pulls back on an AI feature that described Charli D’Amelio as a collection of blueberries (Business Insider)
Threads adds new posting options and animated mini stickers (Social Media Today)
Paid Substack Subscriptions to U.K.-Based Creators Surpass Half a Million (Hollywood Reporter)
Instagram turns off end-to-end encryption in DMs (BBC)
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Threads is also testing an option in the creation sheet that lets users choose whether to share each post to #Instagram individually. (@ahmedghanem)
TikTok is introducing a new Business feature for livestreams (@ahmedghanem)
TikTok now lets users copy a post’s caption or search directly from it by long-pressing on the text (@oncescuradu)
TikTok is celebrating the 2026 FIFA World Cup with new sports-focused content templates (@oncescuradu)
Good Read: Why TikTok’s comments section is driving the majority of first purchases right now (Glossy)
🎀🦀 Aesthetic
The ‘beehive bob’ is the trending haircut that gives heaps of volume – 4 style ideas for every hair type (Cosmopolitan)
Harvey Nichols Opens a Wellness Floor, With Pilates, Treatments and Functional Smoothies on Tap (WWD)
Bloomer Shorts Push Balloon Silhouette to New Extremes (WWD)
Valentino Beauty Looks to Ramp Up Gen Z Recruitment With New Launch (WWD)
Lucky Brand Debuts Americana-Inspired Collection with Coca-Cola (WWD)
This Invite-Only App Is the Future of Pricing and Trading Exotic Supercars (Hypebeast)
Drake Freezes His Entire Website: Everything We Loved in Music This Week (Hypebeast)
This Is the Summer of the Mermaid (WWD)
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Good Reads
Are Influencers Normalizing the Birkin? (WWD)
24 Hours Inside A24, the Film Studio that Wants to be a Lifestyle (Hollywood Reporter)
🎧🍿🦀 Entertainment
Timothée Chalamet’s Latest Role? Back-Street Soccer Fanatic in an Adidas World Cup Ad (WSJ)
Kim Kardashian ‘won’t retake bar exam’ (UK)
right... [🦀 ryan]
IATSE Pickets Live-Action ‘CoComelon’ Series, ‘The Melon Patch’ (Hollywood Reporter)
Cocomelon treat your union workers fairly! [🦀 benton]
Dragon Quest, Silent Hill and more inducted into World Video Game Hall of Fame (Polygon)
Charli XCX Returns With “Rock Music” (Hollywood Reporter)
Yaamava’ Resort & Casino Week Takes Over “Wheel of Fortune” May 11-15 with First-Of-Its-Kind Grand Prize Twist (PR Newswire)
Nintendo Switch 2 Price to Increase to $500 in U.S. as Gaming Console Nears 20 Million Units Sold (Variety)
Good Read: These kids are using Minecraft to fix New York City (Polygon)
We hope you enjoyed this installment of Silence, Brand!—a tri-weekly, late-night potluck of internet absurdity 🦀
Ryan Benson • Dayna Castillo • Dejaih Smith • Benton Williams • Janine Davis
My aunt had every Billy Blanks - Tae Bo tape on VHS 😂