Popular social media platform TikTok launches its first terrestrial TV campaign in the UK later today
TikTok is a social media platform that is hugely popular with younger Brits. The adverts, which will be seen on British television, have a wide variety of celebs involved. The launch of today’s TV campaign, called ‘A little brighter inside,’ will see celebrities such as chef Gordon Ramsay, Little Mix, diver Tom Daley, and musician Tinie Tempah promote the platform.
They are joined in the advert by popular TikTok personalities who have seen a huge growth in follower numbers during the lockdown. One of the people appearing in the advert has the account name Grandpajoe, who has seen his follower numbers grow to an impressive 1.8 million.
Another mobile app, the dating app Tinder, has also seen a huge growth in usage during the lockdown, and as a result have decided to add a video-chat feature to the platform.
All of the segments of the advert were filmed on smartphones. This is not a new approach by TikTok, who use their advertising content to showcase the best videos that are available to see on the social platform. This first TV terrestrial advert in the UK will use a cover of the famous Chordettes’ track ‘Mr Sandman,’ remixed by the musician Cofresi.
While TikTok adverts in the UK have been seen on video-on-demand services, this will be the first time that they will have a presence on ITV, Sky One, and Channel4. TikTok plans to run additional promotions on the app itself throughout May, with celebs performing live on the Chinese-owned app.
The head of TikTok UK’s brand and marketing, Jana Ulaite, said:
“This campaign is all about celebrating the fun and positive spirit of just a few TikTok creators, to shine a light on the amazing content that we are seeing during these tough times.”
Although hugely popular, TikTok has seen its fair share of controversy. However, the company took steps to protect younger users of the app last month by blocking under-16-year-olds from sending or receiving direct messages.
A statement from the company confirmed the decision, saying that it “understands the potential for misuse,” and the risks of sexual predators targeting the predominantly young user audience. A study carried out by Ofcom said that an estimated one in eight UK 12-15-year-olds had a TikTok account.
The speed with which TikTok has grown in the UK, and around the world, has caused a lot of concern, especially in terms of privacy and data issues. An aggressive expansion strategy led to calls for the platform to take the safety of its users more seriously.
The company has a dedicated head of Trust and Safety, Cormac Keenan, who has said that the decision to block under-16s from direct messages was “about going one step further to put in place stronger proactive protections to keep younger members of our community safe.”
Currently, TikTok has over 500 million users around the world. Although there was an attempt to compete with the app by Facebook, it is the Chinese platform that continues to dominate the youth social media scene. Whether the new TV spots will encourage a whole new generation of TikTokkers to download the app and start filming remains to be seen.
In early April, another Chinese owned app, the video-calling application Zoom, was questioned over it’s cyber-security measures, and was even banned in Taiwan due to some of the calls being routed through China.
