Museums are letting their “Gen Z marketing interns” take the lead in a viral new social media trend where erudite curators and guides promote their tony institutions using the distinctive (and often silly) slang of the moment. The videos, captioned “We got our Gen Z intern to write the marketing script,” have exploded across TikTok and Instagram in recent weeks.
England’s Hever Castle made an early viral video of this type in early September. “Hey besties. Need to touch some grass after your brat girl summer? Hever Castle understood the assignment” said guide Peter Crowley in a viral video promoting the historic English 600-year-old castle and collection. Hever Castle’s video—which includes the highlight of Crowley pointing (slightly aggressively) at a 1550 portrait of Anne Boleyn and saying “Pop off, queen” —was watched 12 million times. The video earned Crowley a second video the next day which shows the guide being cheered by crowds of volunteers as he walks down the steps to Tina Turner’s The Best, an overlay text reading “A hero’s welcome to work after yesterday’s viral video”.
Hundreds of cultural organizations joined in with the trend. These videos involve a, typically older, member of staff or volunteer guiding viewers through their institution, speaking only in Gen Z-isms (Gen Z are those born between 1997 and 2012). Typical phrases include “no cap” (as in “Royal Armories is the most sigma day out in Leeds, no cap”), “ate and left no crumbs” (as in Chester Cathedral‘s “this is the Shrine of Saint Werburgh, patron saint of Chester, she ate and left no crumbs”), and “menty b” (as in “no need for a menty b when you and the girlies can visit the National [Galleries of Scotland]“)
These videos almost always feature the iconic “Millennial Pause”—the short (or often painfully long) pauses that Millennials are known to make before starting their sentence on camera. Some videos are edited to make the Millennial Pause the main event, showing the speaker open-mouthed and inhaling, about to speak before cutting to the next frame, as done expertly by Virginia’s Poe Museum.
One of the first videos to make this trend go viral was made by Currys, a UK electrical retailer, in August. The video put its presenter through the linguistic wringer with lines like “this air-fryer is the G.O.A.T, on point cash with that lowkey drip, to have all your guests saying ‘yass, slay queen, he cooked’”.
The popularity of these videos in the art world comes in part due to these institutions’ tongue-in-cheek acknowledgment that there is a generational divide when it comes to access to and enjoyment of cultural spaces. These organizations showing that they don’t always take themselves too seriously and that they’re willing to engage—albeit awkwardly—with the pop culture of today has won over new audiences. Some comments suggest that people have been so enchanted by the content that they’ll be making their first visits to these museums, with one saying “I think I instantly have to go to the national coal mining museum ❤️”.
It’s not only museums and galleries hopping on the trend. Accountancy firms, donkey sanctuaries, and even the NYC Ferry have got in on the action. Even the RÚV newsroom in Iceland had us laughing despite speaking zero Icelandic because words like “bussin” “very demure and very mindful” and “skibidi toilet” are truly international and “it’s giving fagmennska” (“it’s giving professionalism”) will now be part of our daily vocab.
Who would have thought that we would encounter videos beginning “Get in losers, the London Philharmonic Orchestra season starts now”, “sigmas come to the library and increase your aura points”, or “It’s always hot girl summer at Jacksonville Zoo and Garden“.
From the hundreds of museums and galleries that have recreated this trend, we’ve made our selection of favorites along with their most iconic quotes:
New York Historical Society
Most iconic line: “Thomas Cole’s Course of Empire is slaying the house down.”
@nyhistory 👋 Hi besties! Join Marilyn S. Kushner, curator of prints, photographs and architectural drawings, through a tour of our galleries, including: • The Collection: New Conversations • Treasures from the Leonard L. Milberg Collection • Gallery of Tiffany Lamps • Objects Tell Stories #museumtok #genzmarketingscript ♬ original sound – New-York Historical Society
Beamish Museum
Most iconic line: “Smell of this bakery is sending me.”
@beamishmuseum This is slay #genz #slay #demure #fyp #viral #genzlife #sweet ♬ original sound – Beamish Museum
Black Country Living Museum
Most iconic line: “Look at these miners, absolute alphas.”
@blackcountrylivingmuseum Black Country miners slay ✨ #GenZSlang #GenZ #blackcountrylivingmuseum ♬ BIG UP – INJI
The Viking Museum
Most iconic line: “This is a statue of Freyr – big rizzler.”
@thevikingmuseum When Gen Z write the guided tour. #genz #vikings #viking #vikingage #vikingtok #museum #museumtok #thevikingmuseum #stockholm #fyp #CapCut ♬ originalljud – The Viking Museum
Aardman Studios
Most iconic line: “It’s serving Gromit.”
@aardmananimations Peter Lord understood the assignment 👌 #aardman #wallaceandgromit #shaunthesheep #morph #genz #genzhumour #genzlife ♬ original sound – Aardman
National Gallery Singapore
Most iconic line: “We are cooking from 10am to 7pm everyday.”
@nationalgallerysingapore Clarence served from start to finish 😤💅🔥 #genz #nationalgallerysingapore ♬ Jazz Bossa Nova – TOKYO Lonesome Blue
