What’s hot?

This week, we’re talking romance, first times, lockdown listens and taking a (figurative) trip across the North Sea. Oh, and fawning over Robert Pattinson – what’s new?

The ad you need to watch: TikTok’s first time

When it comes to advertising, social networks are generally fantastic. After all, they’ve got a goldmine of user generated content, and free insight into what does, and doesn’t, work. Scottish Twitter was, is, and will forever be, iconic.

TikTok’s first ever TV ad features content as engaging as you might imagine and is pretty much what everyone would assume a TikTok ad would include – dancing, music, and celebrities (including Little Mix and Gordon Ramsey).

Though predictable in some ways, the ad is innovative, relevant, and well-executed. It’s particularly eye-catching as the ad doesn’t initially take advantage of the full television screen – instead it focuses on a small, central, mobile-phone sized space. Similar to how Fyre Fest caught our attention, block colours disrupt the viewing experience and cause consumers to stop in their tracks, and focus. Once they’ve attracted our eyes, TikTok’s ad makes the videos burst out of the mobile space, showing how behind the phone, users are connected to a wider world.

The tips you need to see: Lights, cameras and action

In March, the suggestion of ‘Zoom dates’ gave us a sinking feeling of horror. They sounded awkward, stilted, and painful. After all, it’s everyone’s worst nightmare to run into someone they know on a date – so how can you comfortably have one knowing that your housemate might burst in or overhear?

Worried that lockdown would stop us swiping, last month Bumble partnered with Uber Eats to offer Zoom daters discounted food, which for isolation introverts, could be seen as the beginning of the end: Suddenly, Zoom dates were popular.

We’ve all read the articles telling you how to look and act your best on work calls. Now it’s time to get behind the screen for something wholly different. Read this article for tips on lights, cameras, and (virtual) action.

The column foodies need to read: World in a Dish

One cuisine a lot of us are missing is Swedish, though we’ll hazard a guess you haven’t making regular trips over the North Sea for meals, but actually journeying south of the river to Greenwich.

Obviously, we’re referring to IKEA’s Swedish meatballs. The company has already shared it’s recipe for people to make at home (in an incredibly on-brand way), but for those who want to find out a little more about where their food comes from, check this article out. In fact, the whole column – World in a Dish – is perfect for foodies who love international cuisine, especially in a time where other countries can feel very far away.

Reading the article, you may be surprised to hear where Swedish meatballs originate – and refreshed to remember that it’s a small world, after all.

The answer you probably don’t need: Lockdown listens

It’s simple enough: This website tells you the top three songs you have listened to on Spotify throughout lockdown. It may not be an answer you need to know – a random poll of colleagues found answers to be, at best, ‘embarrassing’, and at worst ‘horrifying.’ If your lockdown listens aren’t quite what you were expecting, we have a recommendation: SNL’s Lockdown song.

The hero we needed, but didn’t deserve: Robert Pattinson

If you thought that you couldn’t love Robert Pattinson any more, wait until you read his GQ cover issue. You don’t necessarily need to read the full article – it is VERY long – however we would recommend a quick Ctrl+F of ‘Piccolini Cuscino’.

In the article, Pattinson outlines his brief dream of being a food entrepreneur, then goes on to cook a recipe and show exactly why this dream was so short-lived. He’s known for being honest, unruffled, and shying away from the limelight. Despite this being an interview in a global magazine, Pattinson certainly comes across this way throughout his cooking disaster. Picking himself off the floor as he deems his meal inedible, Pattinson shows us that celebrities really are just like us.