Gimmick or Genius?
The Rise of Gen Z Social Media Managers and the Era of Unhinged Brand Voice
—Mackinley Scaggs
Earlier this year, Duolingo did the unthinkable: they killed off their iconic green owl mascot in a dramatic TikTok storyline. The internet mourned. Fans demanded answers. Even pop star Dua Lipa chimed in—because when your name is that close to Duolingo, internet lore demands you pay your respects. And just like that, Duolingo had once again captivated the timeline. Not with a new feature or product launch, but through a perfectly absurd piece of social media performance art.
It’s just the latest example of how far brands will go in the era of gimmick marketing. Over the past few years, we’ve watched a new era of social media marketing unfold in real-time. Gone are the days of perfectly polished grids and heavily curated captions. In their place: chaotic tweets, unhinged TikToks, and brand mascots with main-character energy. Welcome to the age of the Gen Z social media manager.
So how did we get here—and is it actually working?
When Weird Worked: The Duolingo Effect
Duolingo was once the poster child for chaotic, Gen Z-driven brand voice. Their social media strategy leaned hard into absurdity, with their green owl mascot dancing, threatening users to practice their language lessons, and jumping on trends with a tone that felt more impulsive than polished.
It was weird. It was unfiltered. It was undeniably effective.
At its peak, Duolingo’s TikTok account had millions of followers, and their brand awareness skyrocketed, even among people who have no intention of ever learning another language. Why? Because they stopped trying to be perfect and started acting like a person on the internet.
In this case, the gimmick wasn’t just a gimmick. It was a strategy.
Honorable Mention: Sour Patch Kids and the Era of Gremlin Marketing
If Duolingo was chaos, then Sour Patch Kids Sour Patch Kids takes it to another level with their sugar-loaded, over-the-top antics. Their social strategy feels like it was developed in a group chat at 2 a.m. And that’s kind of the point. Their TikTok presence is unhinged in the best way, often leaning into meme formats, absurd character lore, and borderline nonsensical humor. It’s not just Gen Z-coded; it’s brainrot-coded. But it works because the brand has always been about being mischievous—first they’re sour, then they’re sweet. Their social content amplifies that energy to its maximum gremlin potential, making them wildly relevant to a generation that prizes weirdness over polish.
When It Doesn’t Land
But not every brand is built to lean into offbeat, gimmick-driven content the way Duolingo once did. When a brand tries too hard to replicate the same chaotic energy without a clear sense of identity or audience fit, the results can feel forced or inauthentic.
Burger King’s 2019 “Real Meals” campaign is often cited as a gimmick gone wrong. But the lesson isn’t that brands should avoid humor or bold ideas altogether. The campaign, launched during Mental Health Awareness Month, featured meal boxes labeled with moods like “Pissed,” “Blue,” and “DGAF”—a play on the idea that not everyone is happy all the time. While the intent may have been to show empathy, the connection between fast food and mental health landed poorly. But here’s the thing: Burger King is a brand with a long history of offbeat, gimmicky marketing, thanks to its surreal, silent mascot and irreverent ad campaigns. The issue wasn’t the use of a gimmick, it was a mismatch between the subject matter and the format. Gimmicky content isn’t inherently bad, it just needs to be thoughtful, self-aware, and contextually appropriate. The failure here wasn’t in tone, it was in misreading the moment and the message.
Even Duolingo, for all its success, has had missteps. In one instance, the brand inserted itself into a highly publicized trial using memes—an attempt at relevance that was widely criticized for making light of a serious situation. More recently, the brand faced intense backlash after announcing its shift to becoming ‘AI-first,’ a decision that many felt undercut the human element of their platform. The response was so overwhelmingly negative that Duolingo ultimately wiped its social accounts entirely. The backlash served as a reminder that even the most beloved brands can miscalculate the tone of a moment.
Gimmicks without grounding can backfire. When the humor doesn’t align with the product, the tone, or the values of the brand, audiences notice.
The Gen Z Manager Mindset
At the heart of this movement is a new wave of social media managers who understand the internet as a language, not just a platform. Gen Z content creators grew up online. They know how trends spread, they know what makes something shareable, and they instinctively understand that humor and chaos are often more engaging than perfection.
But the best Gen Z social media managers don’t just post memes for the sake of it. They balance personality with purpose. They know when to lean in and when to hold back. And most importantly, they treat social media as a dialogue, not a broadcast.
So, Should Your Brand Get Gimmicky?
The answer depends on your brand’s voice, audience, and comfort with taking risks. For some brands, especially those in fashion, food, or entertainment, a playful tone can drive massive engagement. For others, authenticity might mean staying polished and professional.
Here are a few questions to ask before diving in:
Does this tone align with our brand values?
Would our core audience appreciate this kind of humor?
Is there a human running this account who understands the culture, not just the content?
If you answer yes to all three, go ahead and let your mascot twerk on TikTok. If not? That’s okay too. Not every brand needs to go viral to be effective. But in the right hands, a gimmick can become genius.