Tik-Talks: Will Gary Barlow Take That ‘very nice’ lesson in social etiquette?
Gary Barlow is TikTok’s main character this week, courtesy of an endearingly unpolished video where he proclaims, ‘This is my idea of a very nice day out.’ With the help of social research company Shooglebox, let us take you through it.
How do you spark an instant TikTok trend that has creators and brands rushing to create shareable memes about you? Well, Gary Barlow showed how with a TikTok posted on his wine brand account on Friday, April 8, filming himself in a vineyard. The clumsy video birthed a memorable line delivery that was remixed thousands of times.
@garybarlowwines The perfect day is at the winery! #winery #winelovers #garybarlow #garybarlowwines #winetok ♬ original sound - Gary Barlow Wines
Barlow’s cheesy grin and tone, as well as the long pauses at the start and finish, make it so perfect a TikTok meme that you’d be forgiven for thinking it wasn’t planned with that in mind. But we trust that Barlow was just keen to do a bit of social to promote his vineyard.
This week, it quickly racked up more than 1.5m views and inspired thousands of people to use cutouts and CapCut templates from the video in memes with their own takes on “a very nice day out,” taking him from top destinations like B&M, Home Bargains and The Range.
@mollygore1 #CapCut #garybarlow #bandm #homebargains #therange #fyp ♬ original sound - Molly | Mummy to be
Some brands – particularly smaller businesses – were very quick to join in over the weekend, as well as celebrities like Ant and Dec.
@antanddec Channeling our inner Barlow
♬ original sound - Gary Barlow Wines
Bigger brands were a bit slower. It was the weekend, and some of these projects require sign-off. For example, Nando’s picked up on the fun on Monday with ‘pov: your friend just texted you do you want to go to Nando’s’.
@nandosuk yeah we’ll take that #Nandos #GaryBarlow #fyp #CapCut ♬ original sound - Nando’s UK & Ireland
Creators got some of the biggest reactions with duets and funny edits, like Sam Cornforth using the angle of Barlow’s selfie video to show him holding him by the throat and “giving an all new meaning to Take That.” His TikTok has 7.5m views and 1m loves after just 24 hours.
@samcornforth Giving an all new meaning to “Take That” ib: @Peter Rugman & @j u d e #garybarlow #winery #winetok #verynicedayout #duet #comedy #viral #trend #trending #fyp ♬ original sound - Gary Barlow Wines
It grew in trajectory, enough for Shooglebox to dig out the data over the weekend. The research claims that the meme became so big so fast that lots of TikTokers claimed it took over the For You pages: “My whole fyp is just Gary Barlow on numerous different background hahahaha it’s brilliant”; “I’ve seen that many memes I don’t know what the original is!”
@daisygillmusic #garybarlow #fyp #funny #funnyvideo #foryourpage #foryou ♬ original sound - Daisy Gill
Other big talking points include the awkward pause before he speaks: “You’ve heard of the millennial pause, now get ready for the Gary Barlow pause,” Others called it the “boomer pause.” Another claimed: “That wasn’t even a pause. That was a day’s rest.”
The viral memes have boosted previous TikToks on the Gary Barlow Wines page and are helping people discover it for the first time – with new memes being made from an earlier “on the hunt for more wine” video.
@garybarlowwines Just back from a very important mission in South Africa #southafricatiktok #wine #winetok #traveltok #garybarlowwines @Gary Barlow #garybarlow ♬ original sound - Gary Barlow Wines
Ultimately, we agree, Gary. It would be nice to tour a vineyard for the day. But bring some social help next time.
You can see lots of examples of memes from creators, brands and business in this box from the trend-spotting service Buzz from Shooglebox here.