Over the holidays, two “prank” trends dominated TikTok: Telling family members a celebrity died, and playing them an explicit Kohl’s commercial. The former ended after Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance’s son did an ill-advised TikTok about Michael B. Jordan passing away, but the fake Kohl’s ad (and others) have flourished.
The sound
While there are a few fake commercials on TikTok now, the Kohl’s one is the most popular, but it’s gone through a few iterations.
In the audio that appears to be the most popular, posted on Nov. 8 by @crayron, a snippet of the O’Reilly Auto Parts jingle leads into the ad: “Bust out your pussy this summer at Kohl’s. Take 50 percent off all spring items, and shake that ass for some Kohl’s cash.”
It’s been used in more than 70,000 TikToks, and eventually, the prank trend dominated the sound.
@crayron Bust out my WHAT @Kohl’s ??? 🤨 Audio credit: @_periodpad ♬ original sound – Crayron
@justsumblackguy Grandma was flabbergasted & Mother was buffering 😭 #fyp #comedy #kohls #funny #tiktok #instagram #reels ♬ original sound – Crayron
@otakoyakisoba My sister’s interested in some Kohl’s cash.
♬ original sound – Crayron
The trend got so popular, the official Kohl’s TikTok responded last month, assuring that customers “don’t have to shake that.” The video has more than 4 million views.
@kohls PSA: No shaking required to earn Kohl’s Cash #KohlsCommercial #KohlsAd #kohlsprank ♬ original sound – Kohl’s
Where’s it from?
The template for the trend, sans the O’Reilly jingle, is Makayla Plunkett (@_periodpad), who posted a “Kohl’s summer commercial” back in October. Plunkett also did an Old Navy ad, which has been used in more than 14,000 TikToks. That video has more than 19 million views.
@_periodpad comment if you have a request and i will consider, holiday one coming soon??? #idontknowhowtohashtagthis #shitpost #gaycultureis ♬ original sound – periodpad
Plunkett commented on the popularity of the sound last month, with a TikTok captioned “me when i randomly hear my voice in class.” While @crayron did credit her for the audio, his sound is labeled as the “original” now, and some commenters wished she were getting more recognition for the trend.
We reached out to Plunkett for comment via TikTok.
@_periodpad don’t question the amount of times i wrote p😺ssy on my paper #🐱 #slayig #gabeitch #trendcreator #trendmaker #TheRealPussinBoots ♬ original sound – Crayron
Sound off
There were variations on the Kohl’s ad leading up to the holidays, as well as takes on Olive Garden, Bath & Body Works, and Lexus. It’s not clear if the Kohl’s ads (or its TikTok response) had any impact on actual sales—we reached out to Kohl’s for comment via email—but the comments on the brand’s TikTok are largely positive, showing that the right tone can reach a larger audience.
Kohl’s was also under scrutiny last month for its pricing after TikTokers claimed it was a scam.
