The Remedy | March 14th

CM Rx:?I'd be doing y'all a disservice if I didn't talk about what's been going on between Congress and TikTok. This years-long battle took a quick turn last week when?the House Energy and Commerce Committee introduced a new bill designed to pressure ByteDance into selling TikTok. The reason for this is because of the?Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which makes it illegal to distribute software with ties to U.S. adversaries. TikTok falls under this as they're owned by ByteDance, a Chinese-owned company.

This sudden uptick caused TikTok to send out an in-app message to its U.S. users prompting them to call their representatives to help stop the ban. Who knows if TikTok doing that made things better or worse, but the bill did pass through the?House Energy and Commerce Committee with a 50-0 vote last Thursday and as of yesterday morning, it passed through the House with a vote of 352-65.

Where does this leave us? The fate of this final decision is in the hands of the Senate and then eventually the President (Biden has been quoted saying he'll sign the bill if it reaches his desk). Hopefully, we'll find more out soon, but there's potential that the Senate doesn't have the same drive to go after TikTok as the House does, and with that, it would either hold back their efforts or stop them completely.?

Yesterday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew posted a response to the bill on TikTok's official page thanking the community for their support as well as going over TikTok's continuous commitment to data privacy. Lastly, he mentions that the platform?will be exercising its legal rights, to protect this amazing platform they've built for us. Needless to say, TikTok will not back down easily.?

Your Weekly Dosage*

*may contain viral side effects ??

• Instagram is working on 'Spins',?a new option to let people remix your Reels
• Google?has integrated?social media posts into Google business profiles
• Threads makes drafts and in-stream camera available to all users
• Pinterest rolled?out its ‘body type ranges’ tool to the US
• Adobe is making it easier to create social content on mobile with AI
• Reddit?debuts ‘Reddit Pro’ social tools
• Threads just rolled out its new Twitter-like 'Trending' page
• X usage dropped 30% in last year, new study says

From my TL to yours ??

• Chipotle's unique way of doing an announcement ????
• I really love how Jeopardy jumped into this convo ????
• This is so cute, Sweetgreen ??
• NYC DOT dropping some BTS content ????
• Stouffer's twist on getting ready for the OSCARS red carpet ??
• Buffalo Wild Wings getting in on the Katespiracy ??

?? Spotlight ??

Another fun part about working in social media is being able to tap into a core memory for people. Merriam-Webster posted about how Oscar Mayer essentially taught a whole generation how to spell 'bologna' and just like most of the people in the replies, this brought back so many memories for me.

When I was in fifth grade my class auditioned for a?commercial (I think.. I remember the song more than what we were singing it for) for Oscar Mayer. For this we all gathered in the music room and had to sing the Bologna Song, which goes a little something?"My bologna has a first name, it's O-s-c-a-r. My bologna has a second name, it's M-a-y-e-r." The jingle is from a 1973 Oscar Mayer commercial where a young boy is sitting with presumably a?bologna sandwich?singing?"My bologna has a first name..."?The commercial?went on to become one of the longest-running TV commercials in the country.

Being a brand on social media isn't always?about directly marketing or advertising, but more so being willing and able to create genuine conversations on the platforms. The sheer amount of replies and quote posts to Merriam-Webster highlights the importance of being able to spark up those core memories.

And now the jingle is stuck in my head!?

The Remedy is crafted and curated by Lafayette American's Senior Social Strategist, Caite Marchione. ????