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“Darling, hold my hand…”

If the first thing that pops up in your mind after listening to this audio is the words parroted by a British airline commercial, you may have been captured by the allure of meme audios on the internet. If this feels entirely unfamiliar, it is possible that you have been in touch with nature and the outside world instead of being cooped up at your desktop or hunched over your phone, scrolling for hours till your brain is filled with nothing but dancing reels, shorts, or TikToks.

The popular TikTok sound had blown up, escaping short-form media and entering public consciousness. Several users have had the catchy audio stuck inside their heads along with other songs made popular by recent movies (namely the soundtrack to K-Pop Demon Hunters and “Punkrocker” in Superman 2025’s soundtrack). The audio’s original usage tracks back to a TikTok from November 2024, showing a precarious vacation situation involving an unruly camel in a desert. Since then, the audio has been used to show vacation catastrophes and has now evolved into a meta narrative where the audio is made fun of for being an earworm that comes into the forefront of the mind like an uninvited guest—similar to the vein of the old audio of Dua Lipa’s Levitating mashed up with Woh Ladki Jo Sabse Alag Hai, which had haunted Indians on Instagram since the mashup refused to leave the For You pages of every user who thought to get the social media installed onto their devices.

Jet2.com Limited is a low-cost British airline. The ad campaign for it has been around since 2022, having gained sizable popularity from the local population. The song was written by English singer Jess Glynne and is titled “Hold My Hand,” which was released on 20 March 2015, charting number one on the UK Singles Chart, making it an official hit in some European countries. The actual campaign stresses the ease and cost-effectiveness of choosing Jet2 over other commercial airlines. The hilarity comes from the sharp contrast of the beautiful vocals and the almost corporatised optimism coming from the voice of Zoë Lister—perfect for TikTok, which has been known to make use of audios that contrast against and make use of irony, as seen on the internet.

This is not the first time TikTok and Instagram have used popular audios. Most of them have been dialogues from movies, older songs that pertain to certain situations in the present (Kate Bush’s “Army Dreamers), and casual audios. In a way, TikTok has become the spiritual successor to Vine and early YouTube in generating catchphrases and audios that have entrenched themselves into the cultural consciousness.

In a way, the audio trending is a blessing in disguise. Jet2, whether as a basic search term or as pertaining to the airline, has spiked in Google Trends over the past month. This has also translated into more sales as more and more families in the UK choose the low-cost service amid growing economic and financial difficulties in the country. This may not have directly been influenced by the TikTok trend, but it is a no-brainer that the company has found its way into the minds of Generation Z and Generation Alpha—the ones who are more online and on the way to becoming the new consumers that will power the future economies of various countries.

Something to be noted about this trend goes beyond the meme. In this new world, marketing is not just done deliberately but also accidentally. The internet has democratised, and despite corporations trying to infiltrate the authentic digital space, occasionally, things slip through the cracks. Old songs halfway into the coffin have been given a breath of fresh air, movies have trended (whether it be due to parodies or not), and products have been more popular.

An example is Korean skincare—what was once niche is now a global phenomenon, aided by social media and the Hallyu phenomenon. Similarly, songs like “Cheri Cheri Lady” by Modern Talking and Eva (Ева) by the group Vintage (Винтаж) have been spread through the current generation through various trends. Some songs and audios are now deliberately made for the TikTok algorithm with catchy hooks and intentionally funny missteps.

 Why is it so catchy?

Something that really stands out about the audio is how catchy it is. Most of the younger generation, perhaps upon hearing the chorus of the song, would not sing the rest but rather parrot the words from the Jet2 ad campaign. The combination of informal lyrics and an easy tune may make it easy for the brain to grab it and store it in the same place it should be storing important information. Followed by the almost smooth narration of the voice actor for promoting the advertisement, the contrast makes it easy to have it stuck in the head. Like Pavlov’s dogs hearing the bell, the average internet user is now doomed to repeat the entire Jet2 ad slogan like a brainwashed soldier. Of course, like all internet trends, it is doomed to be washed away from the internet’s short attention span (R.I.P. audio of “Guy in Finance”).

 What does any of it mean?

Ultimately, it is a meme trend like any other without deeper insight. Unlike the celebration of art and women in the snippet of the “Honor to Us” song from Mulan and/orthe new trend revolving around the Superman movie that inspires people to be kind and good, this trend is just a silly soundbite accompanied by silly visuals, which serve to make it so that the internet can be a safe space from navigating the political and social confusion of the world, especially for the younger generations who have to take the reins of a broken society from their predecessors.

Perhaps next time, think of Jet2 before booking a holiday, and make sure to stream “Hold My Hand,” just to check if the meme has any merit.

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