What started out as a funny and catchy video filmed by Australian office workers has inadvertently become what some social media users are calling “the most hated clip of 2024.”
Gen Z boss Rachael Wilde, the founder of Australian brand Tbh Skincare, and her entourage of young employees jumped on a TikTok trend last week in the hopes of it going viral.
It went viral – perhaps too viral – and landed on what the industry describes as “the wrong side of the internet”. The women involved were subjected to vicious abuse from mostly American men and even criticism from controversial influencer Andrew Tate.
The cheerful clip features six women standing in a circle in an office, each pointing out an aspect of themselves and their accessories.
One sings about being a “Gen Z boss and a mini,” while another points out that they have “fake tan hands and a hoop (earring)” in the 20-second video – which spread like wildfire across social media platforms over the weekend.
The team has since been inundated with thousands of tweets, comments and messages from ‘creepy’ American men. The negative reactions have left Rachael and the rest of the office baffled as to how a cute video could cause so much controversy.
“It’s been a weird 48 hours. The interest is absolutely terrifying. It’s mind-boggling that a silly TikTok has turned into this.. nothing should ever warrant this much online hate,” Rachael wrote.
Rachael told FEMAIL that more than 2.8 million people TBH have started following TikTok to follow the drama.
Gen Z boss Rachael Wilde, the founder of Australian brand Tbh Skincare (left) and her entourage of young employees (right) jumped on a TikTok trend hoping it would go viral. But they quickly got hate for all the wrong reasons
“We have received so many disgusting comments and even threats to our safety. And now I have opened my Twitter to this,” she added.
Rachael was quoted this weekend as saying that dozens of people have jokingly claimed that the ‘Gen Z boss and a Mini’ has ‘the same vibes’ as the rally shooter.
Controversial influencer Andrew Tate also commented, saying the video proves that men need to “get rich quick” to avoid having a Gen Z woman as a boss.
“If you don’t escape The Matrix, women like these will rule you,” he tweeted.
‘Zog corp loves to emasculate men by forcing them to listen to semi-conscious women. If that doesn’t motivate you to get rich, nothing will.’
Rachael was shocked by the comment and took a screenshot which she shared on her Instagram story.
“It’s fascinating to see how angry the men on Twitter have become over a cute video? Honestly, it’s not that deep,” she wrote.
It also struck a chord with controversial speaker Andrew Tate, who encouraged men to “get rich quick” to avoid having a Gen Z woman as their boss. “If you don’t escape The Matrix, women like these will be your bosses,” Tate tweeted.
Shocked by the comment, Rachael took a screenshot and shared it on her Instagram story. ‘It’s fascinating how angry the men on Twitter have gotten over a cute video? Honestly it’s not that deep,’ she wrote
The video was met with continued ridicule from Americans on X, formerly known as Twitter, who slammed it.
“Some women never grow out of the seventh grade,” wrote one American.
“Zoomer women act like millennials are worse than them (they are exactly the same),” wrote another.
“The reason this video bothers people so much is that many men in office jobs also have to work horrible, stressful office jobs to make ends meet, which in turn subsidizes the unproductive roles like everything these women do,” wrote a third.
However, others supported the brand, saying they couldn’t get the song out of their heads.
The video was continually ridiculed by Americans on X – formally known as Twitter – who criticized the video
Rachael told FEMAIL: ‘We actually just ended up on the wrong side of the internet’
“Men are so sensitive, how many of your feelings were hurt by ‘Gen Z boss and a mini?’” one person wrote.
“The men in these comments are such sad individuals,” wrote another.
A third said: ‘You know what you’re doing when your comments section is flooded with incels. Great job ladies, keep it up.’
Despite the hate, Rachael admitted that she and her team don’t let the negative comments get to them.
“We don’t pay that much attention to it, we just have so much fun as a team when we do these kinds of things,” she said.
‘At the core of what we do, we’re marketers. We jumped on a trend, something we only enjoyed for a few minutes. It started going viral on TikTok and Instagram… but it quickly exploded into a global meme after being posted by another account on X (Twitter).
“We’ve never been this viral – I don’t know if any brand has! We’re known for our viral marketing, but I’ve never seen anything like it. The original video was created by @maisieisobel_.
‘We decided to jump on the trend and it quickly went viral… TThere was a mixed reaction, as always when these kinds of videos go viral, but it really changed when we got shared on X (Twitter).
‘We basically just ended up on the wrong side of the internet.’
