Unhinged & Unfiltered: Social Media Strategies Only A Gen- Z Could Create

Welcome back to the Untamed Social Podcast! 🎙️ In this episode, Ella and Jess dive into the wild world of unhinged social media strategies that are taking TikTok by storm. From brands like Duolingo and Chipotle to personal influencers like Alix Earle, we're exploring how companies are pushing the boundaries of traditional marketing to connect with Gen-Z in a way that’s fun, relatable, and totally unfiltered.

Whether it’s outrageous comments, edgy content, or bold interactions, these brands are breaking the mold and reaping the rewards. But is this strategy worth the risk? We discuss our thoughts as social media managers, how this approach has evolved over time, and whether we would recommend it for your brand.

Topics Covered:

• Unhinged Social Media Strategies: What Are They? 
• Examples of Brands Using Unhinged Tactics: Duolingo, Chipotle, Ryanair 
• The Influence of Gen-Z on Social Media Marketing 
• The Risks and Rewards of Unhinged Strategies 
• How TikTok Changed the Game 
• Would We Recommend This Strategy? 

Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more insights and candid discussions on all things social media!

Transcript

Unhinged & Unfiltered: Social Media Strategies Only A Gen-Z Could Create

Ella Gunnell: All right, welcome to another episode of the Untamed podcast. I'm Ella.

Jess Boozel: And I'm Jess.

Ella Gunnell: And today we're going to be talking about something kind of fun. We're going to be talking about brands and companies who have super unhinged social media strategies. This is something that I feel like we're seeing more and more these days, especially on TikTok, where brands are acting less professional on social media and they're kind of showing their true colors, and you can tell that like, it's just a 24-year-old behind the screen.

Jess Boozel: I'm so excited to dive into this because I feel like the way that marketing has evolved over the years—like if you were to see 10 years ago what we're doing now, you'd probably have a heart attack. It isn't necessarily unprofessional, but it's definitely more laid back than it ever has been before.

Ella Gunnell: No, literally, and it's something that even like I'm 25 years old, I'm like kind of right on the cusp of like millennial and Gen Z. But even sometimes when I see some of the things that these companies are doing, even I'm a little shocked. Like, it's not the social media that I know. So, it always is a little shocking for me when I see random brands and comments commenting like they’re a Gen Z or just commenting funny things. Or just accounts that their whole strategy is being unhinged. I'm always taken aback a little bit, but I think that that's kind of the point—they want to add that shock value so they can stand out. One of the accounts that I always think of as a classic example of having an unhinged strategy is Duolingo. I think they've kind of gotten famous off of doing this. They're always commenting outrageous stuff on people's videos, and the videos themselves are kind of out there. I feel like brands do this because it's a really good way to add shock value and stand out in a crowded space. Take Duolingo, for instance. I don't think that they would have the most exciting social media presence if they did it like everyone else did. Like, they're just a language-learning app. What could they really do to be exciting? So they're like, "Our brand isn't really that exciting. We could do the traditional social media strategy, and that would be fine. Or we could go the total opposite way and do these outrageous videos." And it's working for them because their videos go viral all the time. Everyone knows who they are, and it's because of their social media presence.

Jess Boozel: Yeah. And I think another brand that's doing it really well, and like you said, they didn't really have a reason to go viral and get people's attention, is Chipotle. They have a really great marketing strategy because they use all the trends that are going around. They have a mix of the actual promotional stuff that you normally see from a fast food place, and then they work in the trends. Like I saw a girl eating her burrito, and she was saying, "See how I eat my burrito. Very demure, very mindful. See how I'm not messy." Like she was doing that. So they bring it into their brand, and it works so well.

Ella Gunnell: Yeah, I think Chipotle is a good example of doing that. Just cause, like you said, they kind of incorporate the trends into their brand, and then it still feels on-brand. But I just feel like Duolingo took it to a whole other level because I feel like some of the stuff that they post isn't necessarily promoting their app or their brand presence. Like the point of it is literally just to be unhinged.

Jess Boozel: Yeah.

Ella Gunnell: So I do feel like there's levels to it that you see of the unhinged.

Jess Boozel: Yeah. And I think whenever people see that, they're like, "I would have never gotten on this app before, but now that I think that they're funny, I'm going to use it." I've seen a lot of TikToks that are about people having their Duolingo streak. Like, they have to say a sentence in a different language or something a day to gain a streak.

Ella Gunnell: Yeah, another brand that I think does kind of what you're saying, like some of their stuff incorporates trends, but some of it is more on-brand, is the Paralympics. When I tell you that some of the videos that I've seen are, they're not as directly shocking as Duolingo, but some of them you're like, "Oh, is this okay?" Like they'll kind of use weird sounds or audios where you're almost like, "Is this really the Paralympics main account?" And then you go to it and realize that it is. And I think that strategy has got me several times because I've seen several of their videos, and I'm like, "Is this the real Paralympics account?" And I go and check, and it's the real Paralympics account, and they're the ones putting out these videos. It's making me go to their account and watch more of their videos. So it's kind of an interesting strategy. It's definitely a little bit edgy and iffy, I would say, because it's kind of in a realm where it's like you don't want to make fun, but it's almost doing that. So you go to the comments immediately, you check the page immediately, and I feel like you just want to see what other people are thinking too. Like, are other people feeling like this content is a little edgy, or is it just me?

Jess Boozel: Yeah, it's definitely walking a tight line between, "Is this ethical, or is it just weird to be posting as a brand?" But I think it's funny whenever you go in the comments, and like you said, you're kind of validated with other people thinking the same thing, like, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe this brand, like, this is their account," type of thing. And then it's also funny whenever you kind of disagree with what the brand's doing, and you go in the comments and you're also validated in that, and they're like, "Why are they posting this?" I feel like that happens on a lot of videos.

Ella Gunnell: Yeah, so true. Whoa. Yeah, so true. And I feel like that is part of the strategy. Because any time that a video can get you to go to the comments, and you're just binging through the comments and that video is playing on a loop in the background the whole time, that is key. And that's a really good strategy. Especially if the video is a little bit shorter so that way it's just constantly looping while you're reading through all the comments.

Jess Boozel: Yeah.

Ella Gunnell: That's like how I do social media. Like, I love reading comments. I love going to comments. Whenever someone shuts off their comments, I feel betrayed almost because I'm like, "I can't see what other people are thinking, and I can't see if they're thinking the same thing as me. Why would you shut off the comments?"

Jess Boozel: That's funny because whenever I see someone shuts off the comments, I'll go to the rest of their page, and I'll look at either the video before or after. Sometimes they only shut off the comments on that video, so other people like me will go to the before video or the after video and comment on there and talk about the other video on this other TikTok if that makes sense. But sometimes they completely cut them off, and you can't see anything, which is no fun.

Ella Gunnell: I literally saw that the other day. I think it's Alix Earle. Let me see. Have you heard about the Alix Earle scandal happening?

Jess Boozel: Yes, I have, yeah. She put out an Instagram story, was it Instagram? And a lot of people were upset that it was only for like 24 hours. They're also saying that she's just like pushing the blame to whoever gave her that advice, like her PR team basically. She's blaming them for not saying anything, which hasn't done her any good.

Ella Gunnell: Yeah, I don't, I honestly haven't looked too much into it. I just know that people are mad at her right now because every single video that I see of hers has just comments under it about the situation. So even if you shut off a specific video and like a specific video that's going to attract the comments, people will just go to your other videos and comment the same thing.

Jess Boozel: Yeah. I know our name for this podcast was going to be Unhinged Social Media. And I think this honestly goes into it, and it's great to talk about because it is something serious, and it does involve PR. But basically, Alix is saying that her PR team told her to keep quiet, and they went as far as trademarking the—I don't know if you've seen the Ask.fm messages, but they have trademarked the Ask.fm messages. Someone on Reddit went and put the screenshots of these messages on, and they basically reached out to them and were like, "This is trademarked content, you can't use this," blah blah blah. And that's when people got really upset, when it was made known that she was now trademarking it, and people got so upset because they're like, "You didn't just ignore it for a month, but you also trademarked your racist comments. That is very messed up." And then that's when she finally came out with the story and said, "Hey, I'm going to acknowledge this. I got some advice. It was ill—ill-mannered advice, but it wasn't supposed to be harmful," or something of that ordeal, basically blaming her PR team. But also, she made it a 24-hour story that goes away, and she has been posting like normal again. So, whenever that story's gone, her apology for it and her acknowledgment that she did something wrong is gone. And she posts like five to four times a day. So like, it's like, you could have kept an apology video up. You could have done a little bit better.

Ella Gunnell: Yeah, it's very interesting because we were talking about brands like companies, but I think people forget that people like Alix Earle, yes, she's a person, but she's also a brand.

Jess Boozel: Oh yeah, 100%. Yeah.

Ella Gunnell: Yeah, so when stuff like this happens, I feel like people have a hard time separating the two. I don't know. I don't know what it is, but I think that—I don't know where I'm going with this. I just feel like people forget that she's not just a person. She has a whole team behind her.

Jess Boozel: Yeah.

Ella Gunnell: And her brand is just as thought out as any of these other brands like Wendy's or the Paralympics or Duolingo. Everything they do is kind of a strategy.

Jess Boozel: Yeah, I totally agree, and while it's a different type of unhinged brand, it still is very unhinged.

Ella Gunnell: Yeah, like her brand, I feel like, is kind of just being unhinged.

Jess Boozel: Yeah, it really is.

Ella Gunnell: Her TikTok bio says "hot mess" in it.

Jess Boozel: Yeah, her podcast is called Hot Mess.

Ella Gunnell: Yeah. Oh boy, well she is a hot mess right now. But yeah, speaking of comments, the other thing that I have seen brands do beyond just posting kind of unhinged content is, even if they don't post that kind of content, they're going to be in people's comments posting kind of unhinged things. Like the other day, I was on some random video—I don't even remember what video I was on—and CeraVe, which is like a skincare company, posted something that I would have expected a teenager to post. Like, they posted kind of a funny, snarky comment under someone's video, and I was like, "CeraVe, what are you doing here?"

Jess Boozel: Yeah.

Ella Gunnell: It's just so random. The brands that you see in comments of sometimes the videos mention them, sometimes the videos are just like viral videos. So they know that you're going to check the comments, and they want you to see that they're there in the comments, giving you a reminder like, "Hey, we're still here. Don't forget about us."

Jess Boozel: Yeah. I think it's funny because that's exactly what is making people realize these aren't big brand companies. This is just a 24-year-old on her phone having fun, basically. I mean, it's still your job. Marketing is a job, but marketing is fun. And I think that whenever you think of marketing, you think of big people sitting in offices spending all day thinking about the perfect thing to put out there. In reality, it's probably a 24-year-old girl sitting on her bed laughing at comments and laughing at her responses as CeraVe. And I think the trend where you show who you are on accounts has really become popular because people are now seeing people behind these big brands like Duolingo. I can't remember the girl's name now, but it was some random girl that basically revealed herself as Duolingo. If you don't know the TikTok trend, it's a song that goes like, "Who am I going to be today?" or something like that. And it's a carousel photo, so it's like her picture and then "Who am I going to be today?" Swipe. And it shows her access into the Duolingo account.

Ella Gunnell: Yeah.

Jess Boozel: Which I think is really cool and funny that we're seeing faces behind these brands.

Ella Gunnell: Yes, I've seen that trend too, and it's just so relatable, especially like, that's literally us. Like, we're the 25-year-old people behind the screen, like, acting like we're a specific brand, but really, it's just me. But no, I've literally seen that trend, and I relate to it so hard. I saw someone—obviously it's just random people and like, sometimes they have a following and sometimes they don’t. Like, I know personally, I'm not active on TikTok, but you'll swipe. And I saw one girl, it was like the Kamala Harris HQ TikTok account or another.

Jess Boozel: I think I saw that too.

Ella Gunnell: You saw that one?

Jess Boozel: Yeah.

Ella Gunnell: You swiped, it was another random girl you swiped. And it was the two D'Amelio's, Dixie and Charlie.

Jess Boozel: Yeah.

Ella Gunnell: She was in their accounts. And so it's just so funny and relatable. Like, yeah, this is literally just like the life of a social media manager. It's just little old me behind the screen, but we have to post on behalf of these big brands and stuff like that.

Jess Boozel: Yeah, the one time, my dad—I don't know if you know who Stacey Davidson is—he's on like a car show, he's a host of a car show, and my dad bought some merch from him, and he commented something on his Facebook one time about the merch that he had bought, basically saying like, "I love this." And the Stacey Davidson account replied back saying, "Thank you, Roger," or something like that, and he showed me, and I was like, "That probably is not Stacey Davidson himself. That is someone like me sitting behind the screen commenting that back to you. That's not him."

Ella Gunnell: No, literally. That's so true. Like how you're talking about with influencers, kind of like Alix Earle, where yes, they're a person, but they also have a brand and a lot of them are really good at replying to comments. Some of them are not. But some of them are really good at replying to comments, but just because it sounds like them doesn't mean it's actually them.

Jess Boozel: Yeah.

Ella Gunnell: I mean, it's still great that they're replying to comments and having someone respond to their comments, and I bet it made that person's day that they got responded to. But just being behind the scenes, I'm like, there's no way they're going through and replying to all of these comments because that would take way too much time. I'm sure they have someone doing it for them.

Jess Boozel: Yeah, with smaller influencers, I definitely think it's them looking at them, but bigger ones, like Alix Earle, Alix—honestly, even I question. I sort of feel like it's her, but you never know. But like the D'Amelio's and stuff, obviously, we've seen it's not them.

Ella Gunnell: Yeah. Even if they—I'd be interested to see how it works with some of these big influencers, because obviously they are still very involved in the content. Like a lot of brands that we deal with personally are companies. So, they're not super, super involved with making the videos because they're not on camera. We're just making it for them. But when you're an influencer, you have to film the videos. Even if you're not the one editing it, you probably still oversee that. And even if you're not responding to at least some of the comments, someone's probably responding on your behalf, and they need to sound like you. So it's very interesting. There's one level of embodying a brand, like what we do for most of our clients where they're a company, and we just kind of learn the tone that they want us to respond with, and their voice and things like that. But then there's a whole other layer where you have to be on someone's team who is an actual person, and you need to sound like that person and create content like that person. So that way, people don't feel—because I feel like that's the key—is people need to not feel like influencers have a team. They need to feel like it's just them posting behind the screen. Otherwise, it kind of ruins the experience for people.

Jess Boozel: Yeah, I completely agree. And I see that a lot even with our clients. I see that because we have a lot of TV shows. Those, I feel like it's obvious that we're not actually part of the TV show. We're none of the characters type thing. But then we have some personal brands that I feel like people don't always know that I'm not them.

Ella Gunnell: Yeah, so true. And as a social media company, if there's a specific question, we'll go to that client and we'll say, "How would you answer this?" Or we'll come up with an FAQ guide with them so we can answer things on their behalf in the way they would want us to answer. So even if someone else is answering for the influencer, it doesn't mean the influencer isn't always involved or the personal brand isn't always involved because we still make sure to get their input, especially on important questions or questions we might not know the answers to.

Jess Boozel: Yeah, that's very true. So, moving on. I have a video for you, Ella, and I want to say this is two years old, and I don't even care. I don't want anyone coming for me saying that it's old because whenever you guys see it, it is like it was made yesterday. Like, it is very funny. It is very Gen Z, everything that we're talking about, unhinged brands. This video sums it up with the comments, the video. And I searched. Although you see those things very often on your For You page, when you go searching for it, it is hard to look for. But I found this example that I would like to share, and I think it sums everything up.

Ella Gunnell: And just so everyone knows, I have not seen this video yet. At least I don't know what video it is. Maybe I've seen it, but I'm about to click on it and watch it.

Jess Boozel: It is, I believe, a UK airline. I'm not 100 percent sure on it being a UK airline, but I know it's not an airline in the United States. So, I don't know if you've seen it before, but it's very funny. Very excited.

Ella Gunnell: Okay, so I actually have not seen this particular video before, but I have seen this account. And you're right. I think that they're kind of like a budget airline, kind of like Spirit or something. And so they're like, "How can we have a social media presence where people aren't just roasting us all the time?" And I think this is their answer. Like, they just do funny videos like this, but this is hilarious.

Jess Boozel: I thought it was so funny that they used Timothée Chalamet, and not only that, but we talked earlier about videos that you watch and then you open the comment section and someone comments like, "I didn't even realize this is you," type of thing. And I'm pretty sure that is a comment on the TikTok.

Ella Gunnell: So funny. Okay, let me look through some of these comments. Someone says,

Jess Boozel: Yeah.

Ella Gunnell: "Ryanair, what is this?" Someone said, "Please, who runs this account?"

Jess Boozel: But also look at the responses and the way they're responding to people as well, cause they're kind of sassy.

Ella Gunnell: To the person who said, "Please, who runs this account?" They said, "If only you knew."

Jess Boozel: There was another video that was more recent, it wasn't as fun as this one, but it was more recent and somebody commented, "I'm flying your airline tomorrow," and they commented back, "No one asked."

Ella Gunnell: Okay, Ryanair's a good example. Not only do they post unhinged content, but they're also a really good example of replying back to people, which I love. And their responses are hilarious.

Jess Boozel: It is hilarious because you wouldn't have thought that an airline would have this type of branding online, but I feel like specifically with TikTok—because we are talking about TikTok here—we haven't really got into marketing on Facebook or marketing on Instagram. Although Instagram and TikTok are similar, they still are a bit different because I feel like on TikTok, you're able to go buck wild. You are able to do these crazy funny things, and it just makes sense for you. If you were to do it on Facebook, I feel like it would be a little different. You'd need a little bit of warming up to you. But on Instagram, it's like a middle ground. It's sort of professional, kind of where your beautiful airline pictures would be, maybe mixed in with some funny content. But then, like I said, TikTok—fair game, do whatever you want, be funny, it's fine.

Ella Gunnell: Yeah, you're so right. I don’t think we, I don't know if we really clarified that, but I do not think this would work on Facebook. We have some accounts that are geared towards a younger audience, and so they do really well on Instagram and TikTok, but then that same account on Facebook just does not do well. I just feel like it's a totally different audience there. And you have to be professional, otherwise all the old people, all the boomers on Facebook would be offended. They wouldn't understand it.

Jess Boozel: 100%.

Ella Gunnell: They wouldn’t get it.

Jess Boozel: 100%. This is a marketing strategy that is working, but working for certain people.

Ella Gunnell: Yes, it's very specific. It has to be if you're trying to appeal to Gen Z, because if you're trying to appeal to older people, this is not it. They will not think it's funny. They might even think less of your brand if you behave in this way. Just because in their eyes it's not professional, but to a Gen Zer, they're like, "Oh, this is relatable." Like someone on the Ryanair account commented, "Why do I relate to Ryanair?" So it's just, they're really making themselves like—it's almost like they want you to know that there's a person behind the screen, and it's not just the company because I think they're trying to come across as more personal.

Jess Boozel: Oh, yeah, absolutely. And it's like walking that tight line that we talked about with the Paralympics. Like, there is a point where you are appealing to one type of audience, and you have to weigh out—is it worth it to make this audience happy to potentially lose this other audience? That's a decision that has to be made whenever you're talking about doing strategy that's unhinged and more personal like this.

Ella Gunnell: Yeah, now that you've said that, let's kind of get into the nitty gritty. And that is, as social media managers, is this a strategy that we recommend? Do we like it? Do we not like it? What do you think?

Jess Boozel: As a Gen Zer, I love it. I think it is very funny. I think that it makes your brand more relatable. And like I said before, there are a lot of things where you don't normally think of that brand, but then you see them on your social media interacting the same way that you would, and suddenly their brand is in your mind. So I think it is effective. The Facebook and losing the older generation, like I said, you have to toggle with that, whether you think that demographic is good for your brand or if you care more about bringing in the younger generation, and that just all again goes back to what is your brand and what do you want from it? If you want Gen Z, I say 100 percent go full fledged, be funny, do what you need to do to get your name out there and to get yourself in people's minds. What do you think?

Ella Gunnell: Yeah, I agree with that. I kind of still struggle with it a little bit though because I don't know if like, as a social media manager, say a brand came to me—not like a comedian or something—but like a brand like Ryanair or a brand like Duolingo, and they came to me and they said, "Can you run our social media? What should our strategy be?" I feel like I would have a hard time sitting in front of executives and being like, "Listen, this is what I think you need to do. I think you need to just be totally unhinged and let us act like ourselves on your account on behalf of your brand." I feel like I would have a very hard time presenting that and saying, "This is a legit strategy." But at the same time, it is a legit strategy because like you said, it is working. And a lot of these brands that Gen Zers may not have cared about before, like Duolingo or Ryanair, they care about and they're going to follow these companies, and they get that brand recognition. They get that name recognition. And that eventually is going to pay off for them. So, I don't know, I still feel conflicted about it, but I will say that I feel like for certain brands, especially on TikTok, like if your goal is to grow on TikTok, especially with a Gen Z audience, then this is a very valid strategy for you. And it might feel different than what you are used to seeing and how social media used to be. But you also have to keep in mind that social media isn't even the same as it was five years ago. Like, we can't always just be averse to change because that's the way it's always been. If stuff is working, that's our job to recognize that and to apply that where we think it makes sense.

Ella Gunnell: So, I don't know.

Jess Boozel: No, that was said perfectly. I love that. And you're so right. Social media, honestly, it took a huge shift in 2020. And what we've seen since then has been so much more personable. And like you said, it's about rolling with it. You got to go with it to do what you need to do, because even though you're used to sticking to the same thing, because that's what you know, the same thing that happened in 2010 isn't what's happening now.

Ella Gunnell: Yeah, it's so true. Social media has changed so much. TikTok has changed so much. Everything has changed so much. It's changing all the time. And that's our job as social media managers. Like, "Hey, this is something that we're seeing is working. Should we maybe think about having some of our clients do this?" And I think that that would be a tough persuasion. Like, I don't know how—I'm thinking of some of the clients we have right now. And I'm like, "Would they go for this? I don't know if any of them would."

Jess Boozel: I don't really think any of them would. But we have an older demographic for clients, so that's different. Like I said, age definitely matters.

Ella Gunnell: Yeah, for sure. And at the end of the day, you do have to think about what is best for your brand, what your goals are specifically, and who you're trying to appeal to. So obviously take all that into account. But stepping out of my social media manager role and just into the role of someone who uses TikTok and a consumer, I would way rather see a brand that's having fun with their content and is relatable to me than a brand that's doing the same thing that everyone else does.

Jess Boozel: Yeah, I completely agree. And this is a talk for another time, but I truly think TikTok changed the game for everyone and for social media completely.

Ella Gunnell: Oh, yeah.

Jess Boozel: TikTok changed everything. And that's why I think whenever we jumped into this, our minds automatically even went to TikTok. Like, we didn't discuss Facebook and Instagram until later in the conversation. It was because we realized, "Oh, there are other platforms."

Ella Gunnell: I know we could seriously do a whole other episode about how TikTok changed the whole social media space. But yeah, TikTok is just like its own little weird planet, but I love it. I love TikTok. It's my favorite social media platform for a number of reasons. Again, we could do a whole episode about this, but part of it is because of stuff like this.

Jess Boozel: Yeah, there we go. We have our next episode. Maybe not the next one, but we have another topic to add to the list.

Ella Gunnell: Keep an eye out for that. Okay, well, that was everything about unhinged brands. Unhinged brands on TikTok specifically, what we feel about that, what they're doing, and overall, we just love it. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Untamed Social Podcast, and we'll see you in the next one.

Jess Boozel: Bye guys!

Ella Gunnell: Bye!