The pregnant mom of six living in a one bed, the Halloween virality tricks and Gen Z liars
Do keep up!
Hello hotties!
Before we start I wanted to let you know that you may soon receive an offer from Substack that gifts you a free month of a paid subscription to highly flammable. If you’re willing to take the one month paid pass that would really help me out as Substack will pay me for a month and help fund my efforts to make even more highly flammable. Thank you!
Now let’s get into it…
So hot right now
The Costco Guys and the Rizzler… The TikTok trio have officially gone mainstream after appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The Costco Guys - father Andrew “A.J.” Befumo and 11-year-old son Eric aka Big Justice - blew up back in March after posting a video of them enjoying a trip to, you’ve guessed it, the retailer Costco.
The duo were joined by their frequent collaborator the Rizzler - a seven-year-old named Christian Joseph - who also went viral on TikTok after he featured in a video wearing a Black Panther costume last year. Between them they have over three million followers on TikTok and their wholesome appeal has made them a magnet for brand deals, and now, late night chat shows.
Cartoon sized cheques… From the mega viral Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest to Elon Musk’s shady $1 million registered voter giveaway oversized prize cheques are having a moment. It feels so 80s.
And, TikTok’s newest star is… a pregnant mom of six who lives in a one bedroom apartment. Stephanie Jenkins went viral on TikTok after posting a video showing how she turns her dining room into a bedroom for the six children to sleep in. It’s since been watched more than 11 million times and her more recent videos, which she publishes under the name Resilient Jenkins, are being watched millions of times each.
The cramped living situation sparked massive discourse on TikTok, much of it critical of Jenkins and her partner’s decision to sleep in the only bedroom while the kids sleep on the floor in the dining room. And yesterday, a woman who posts as Nails by Arlita, took to the platform claiming to be the “baby momma” of Jenkins’ partner, and slated him for having “messed up” priorities and not having contact with their son.
The couple have issued a “public response” to the furore and legacy media have now picked up the story so it’s going to get even messier.
The unstoppable rise of the online Halloween performance
The costumes, make-up and permission to be unhinged makes Halloween the perfect holiday for social media. But as the platforms have shifted from text and pictures to video, and from friend networks to engagement-based algorithms, they’re shaping how we Halloween.
Cosplaying a character by making or sourcing an ace costume is no longer enough to win online, you need to perform as them, or better yet, recreate a iconic moment of theirs.
I said last week that TikToker’s Benny Drama, Jake Shane and Terry O’Connor had crushed their take on Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Charli xcx. In doing so they also showcased the three rules that almost guarantee cut through on platforms like TikTok, Twitter and Reels. Let’s look at each one…
First up is to lean hard into virality. Much has been written about how each year Halloween gets more and more chronically online, and while it’s true that Raygun, the endlessly-mocked Olympic breakdancer, will be a ubiquitous costume, just dressing as her won’t result in online attention. What Jake, Benny and Terry did was to combine viral stars with a viral TikTok sound. The result for them was a viral video that’s been watched more than 16 million times.
The trio also didn’t just dress as their characters they performed as them, as seen in this version posted on Benny’s account.
Another example of the same tactic came from Kate Racker and Chase McWhorter who not only pulled off Justin and Hailey Bieber’s distinctive looks, they acted like them in a scenario that they’re often seen in… being papped as they leave their home or car. Racker’s video has been viewed more than six million times on TikTok, and as one commentator put it, the execution was “flawless”.
Dressing as people with fandoms, or those that attract niche interest, is another way to get attention as it’ll likely be lapped up by their already hyper-engaged audiences. Benny, Jake and Terry nailed this by dressing as three much-adored pop girlies. The model Nikki Jansen similarly got nearly four million views for her Lana Del Rey couples costume. And Nava Rose got over two million views for her take on the internet’s most loved hippo, Moo Deng.
On the niche side, a TikToker who goes by Kayla created her costume only for the people of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and urged others to “keep scrolling”, because she was paying tribute to a local lawyer who advertises himself around the city. She even climbed one of his billboards to repeat his catchphrase, “one call, that's all”. Locals loved it.
While I get that these performances take us quite far away from Halloween’s origins I actually love the creativity it inspires. What’s maybe more worrying is that even when we are not online and enjoying Halloween IRL, we are quickly dragged back to the URL where the moments blew up.
Toxic polarisation is making Gen Z lie about who they’re voting for
While I wasn’t surprised by an Axios survey and report headlined “America's youngest voters become major election liars” I was shocked by how widespread the issue is.
Nearly half of under 27s say they’ve fibbed about who they vote for, compared with 23 per cent across all ages. While 44 per cent of Gen Z’s say they’re not close to some family members because of differing political views, compared with 33 per cent overall.
The desire to avoid a confrontation is likely motivating the lies given how uncomfortably toxic politics has become in America. Deep divides occur along age, gender, race, educational status, geographic and religious lines, and the presidential race has further stoked those fissures.
The reluctance from so many to share voting intention has major ramifications on polling. As I publish it’s neck and neck between Harris and Trump, but maybe the gap is bigger because people are unwilling to share their true intentions? We’ll find out next week.
Twitch star Kai Cenat collabs with Kim Kardashian as he tries to take back his crown
Streaming superstar Kai Cenat is planning to go live for 30 days straight again and got Kim Kardashian to help him promote it. The 22-year-old hopes the live marathon will help him get back to the top of Twitch’s most subscribed chart after he was dethroned by Ironmouse, a Puerto Rican Vtuber who has never shown her face.
If you want a sense of just how much money online stars like Cenat have to play with for these projects take a look at his cinematic high-budget promo. I’ve seen shows on Netflix with lower production values…
Trends, trends and even more trends
Suspect challenge… TikTokers are pretending they are a suspect on the run while their friend or partner provide brutal descriptions of them
Then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like… “That’s, that me Espresso”. Sabrina Carpenter started this TikTok trend by using audio of Jennifer Lawrence singing the classic song in the film Joy. The Taste singer swapped out the “I love you” last line for the chorus of her iconic track Espresso and then inspired thousands to create their own versions.
On my way to cancel out my husband/dad’s vote… Thousands of Democrat-voting women in the U.S. are documenting their journey to the ballot box and their plan to counter votes for the Republican party cast by the men in their lives.
✨Callback corner✨
Searches for what is interpretive dance are at an all-time high according to Google Trends. I told you about the TikTok trend in the last edition.
With the release of Aquamarine, the reappraisal of Addison Rae continues. Her journey from TikTok dance star to credible pop girlie was covered last month.
This week I’ve been…
OBSESSED WITH:
Chat GPT’s attempt to impersonate a gay southern man
Lily Allen’s clapback that says all you need to know about what type of creators are making bank
This diva
TikTok couple Pookie and Jett cashing in on their viral fame by launching the brand Quintessential Love
The overachieving Phoebe Kong TikTok story and her cute response
The source of the weird smell in Los Angeles. I’m here and it’s absolutely gross.
EXCITED ABOUT: Chappell Roan teasing new music
READING:
Are You Also Following Every Minute of TikTok Influencer Aspyn Ovard’s Divorce? asks The Cut. Yes, reader, I am.
Can A.I. Be Blamed for a Teen’s Suicide? from The New York Times
Zyn sales surge for Philip Morris International as pouches’ rise resembles vapes’ according to Sherwood
From Mommy Blogger to MAGA’s Most Powerful Weapon: The Story of Jessica Reed Kraus in ELLE
‘Fandom has toxified the world’ from The Guardian
How a deleted LinkedIn post was weaponised and seen by millions before the Southport riot from BBC News
They’re Huge on TikTok. Is That Enough to Make It as a DJ? in Rolling Stone
The (UK) nation’s birthrate has plummeted. How did we get here? from The Times
Roll Out the Red Carpet for Bald Ann Dowd in The Cut
’s excellent description of media company Puck, as “Gawker for bosses” because of the laundry service they offer the executive classAnd every edition of
’s new Substack Fresh HellCONCERNED: That the attention economy works in very screwed up ways
DREAMING: About this bombshell dress from The New Arrivals
💅Shameless self promotion corner💅
Want to hear me chatting with Anthony Po, the brains behind the Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest that took over the internet? You can hear that and more right here (from 1:05) from Tuesday’s BBC 5 Live show with Gordon Smart.
highly flammable is produced and written by Rachel Richardson
She’s a content creator, commentator and consultant at Beginning, Middle and End
Want more? Check out Threads, Twitter/X and Instagram
Email rr@bmend.com
Every single link I click makes me laugh. Bravo to you.