TikTok users have been celebrating mundane aspects of British culture in a new trend known as ‘Britishcore’.
Users are sending ordinary scenes from British life viral, often involving the music of Oasis. The trend is thought to have pre-existed their reunion, but it means those clips have aged especially well.
TikTok said there has been a double-digit increase in posts using the hashtags #ukcomedy, #ukfashion and #uktravel since January, while #OasisReunion has had more than 100million video views in the last two weeks. The hashtags #britcore and #britishcore have also been popular.
“This summer we’ve seen an explosion of British pop culture on the global stage,” said Louisa McGillicuddy, a trends specialist for TikTok’s UK operation. “From the Brat phenomenon to the excitement surrounding the Oasis reunion… the TikTok community in the UK and beyond has been embracing all things britcore.”
What is ‘Britishcore’?
The popularity of ‘Britishcore’ stems from the TikTok tendency to romanticise ordinary aspects of life, with users spotlighting mundane aspects of life in the UK from Tesco to Greggs sausage rolls.
While the trend is achieving popularity now, it has existed in some form for a couple of years.
It’s not just been popularised by British TikTok users, however. Americans in particular have got involved. One particularly popular video was filmed by The Dare in London Paddington, soundtracked by Underworld‘s ‘Born Slippy’ and Ewan McGregor’s opening monologue from Trainspotting.
@classicryleeshenanigans iconic #fypシ #fyp #viral #britan #britishculture #englandcore #britishcore
Recommended
@aboyformybirthday little british lad core /J #england #britain #nostalgia #80s #90s #00s #mecore #corecore #music #uk
@iannonce34 sorry tents blown away #oasis #wind #leedsfestival #liamgallagher @Reading & Leeds Festival
@will.s_guitarist He did it!
@itsthedare you can imagine which slang word i was going to caption it
The trend has gotten so popular that even daytime TV host Jeremy Vine has got involved:
@thejeremyvine Hardcore #britcore 🇬🇧 #britishcore #millieb b
@whydidimakethisdave #brtishcore #pub #britishmemes #britishcomedy #liminalspaces #liminalcore #england #englishpub #comedy #councilestate
What other trends have been big on TikTok recently?
One of the biggest TikTok trends of the summer has been the ‘Demure’ TikTok trend, the brainchild of content creator Jools Lebron, who made a series of videos that stressed the qualities of remaining “demure” and “mindful” in public situations.
Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Lopez and Jenna Ortega were among the stars who were quick to jump on that particular meme, the latter doing so from the set of her new film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Meanwhile, the popularity of Bridgerton inspired the birth of ‘fridgescaping’, a trend where users decorated the insides of their fridges in a way that invokes the period aesthetic of the Netflix romantic drama, the third season of which premiered on the streaming platform earlier this summer.
Another viral hit on the social media app this summer was the ‘Gen Z Boss And A Mini’ craze, in which people repeated a number of chanted phrases in unison.