“Brat summer is over besties – time to enter your historical era.” No, this is not a quote from Charli XCX but Mark Murray-Flutter, the 65-year-old Senior Curator of the Royal Armouries in Leeds.
I came across his video on a lazy Thursday afternoon when procrastination got the best of me, and library time turned into the much-feared phone time. After hours of mindless scrolling on TikTok, I had watched all of the viral ‘when Gen Z writes the marketing script’ videos. Clip after clip of middle-aged employees (the so-called boomers) promoting their businesses while awkwardly delivering lines in Gen Z lingo. The result? A hilarious compilation of videos using slang like ‘no cap’, ‘it’s lit’, and ‘sick’ to describe anything from a vacuum cleaner to a Georgian panelled room.
Everyone has been jumping on the bandwagon and I’m here for it. From a 12th century B&B, to the Northumberland Zoo, to Singapore’s National Gallery: the medieval dining room is being referred to as having “so much rizz”, a bat becomes brat , and the Front-Of-House gallery ambassador tells us that “Georgette Chen is THAT girl”.
There is something about the combination of passionate showcasing of ancient sites or quirky animals with hyper-modern slang that is both cute and amusing. What makes these videos so funny is the disconnect: the people delivering these lines may not even be aware of Tik Tok’s existence, yet they are speaking like serial scrollers. While the culture clash is unsettling, it is also unbelievably entertaining. It just works. It’s the collision of two worlds — history meets meme — that keeps viewers hooked and coming back for more.
And it’s not just me. The response to this trend has been astonishing with videos receiving millions of views and likes as well as being flooded with positive comments. From boomers to internet stars, the protagonists have been receiving a lot of well-deserved love and praise for their perfect execution: “Mark Murray-Flutter gives such main character energy, his delivery is so mindful, so demure, no cap” someone comments.
It’s no doubt that businesses have understood the assignment. Gen Z has finally been given more power as we are seeing a move from unrelatable commercials to content that is engaging, entertaining and speaks to a younger generation. The importance of social media marketing is now widely acknowledged; who better to take lead than Gen Z?
In a world of divisions, especially in the workplace, where senior employees negatively view their Gen Z colleagues or (even worse) fear them, it’s refreshing to see instances of collaboration. It isn’t a case of ‘young vs old’ but rather of a ‘young with old’ formula which creates a totally new and incredibly powerful outcome. Not only is this effective marketing, reaching wider demographics, but also strengthens a bond which is at times very weak, especially when it comes to communication systems. The trend shows that dialogue between generations is possible (and necessary!) moving forwards.
We love to see successful intergenerational connection. Pop off, besties!