New Delhi: A new social media trend centred around the pronunciation of Vaseline has unexpectedly found itself at the heart of the internet’s latest trend.
It soon went beyond influencers, with the company joining in by posting a statement announcing that the brand would be renamed “Baseline.”
“Following an extensive review (by which we mean approximately one video watched over 1 million times, fact), Vaseline would like to announce our rebrand,” the statement read, adding, “Welcome to Baseline, effective immediately.”
The trend began after Korean creator Min Day Lee pronounced Vaseline as “Baseline” in a skincare video featuring multiple products from the brand. What started as a different pronunciation quickly caught the attention of social media users, who turned it into a viral trend.
“Dry lip Baseline, dry hands Baseline, ashy elbow Baseline, rough heels Baseline,” she can be heard saying in one of her skincare videos, highlighting the viral “Baseline” pronunciation.
Vaseline’s reaction and the statement came soon after users began calling for a rebrand to “Baseline.”
View this post on Instagram
In another post, Vaseline jokingly called Min Day Lee a “Hijack Icon”.
“You hacked our feed. We watched. We laughed. We loved every second,” the company wrote.
Vaseline then turned the viral moment into a branding and advertising opportunity, challenging users to create their own “Baseline” versions and tag the brand. It quickly became a viral trend, with people recreating the moment and referring to the brand as “Baseline.”
“OMG, I’m so honoured. Thank you very, very much. Tok tok tok and Baseline,” Lee wrote in response to Vaseline’s post on Instagram.
Also Read: A new speed-driving social media trend that has UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham worried
The ‘V’ and ‘B’ mixup
As the video crossed millions of views and likes, and people asked about her pronunciation, Lee posted another video explaining why she pronounced the “V” in Vaseline as a “B” and called the brand “Baseline.”
She explained that this was not specific to Vaseline, but a result of how certain sounds are pronounced in Korean.
“Many people ask me why Baseline and not Vaseline,” she began, explaining that the Korean language does not have the same “V” sound as English, so it is often pronounced closer to a “B” sound. She gave examples of other words, including “violin,” which she pronounced closer to “biolin,” and “visa,” which she pronounced as “bija.”
Vaseline also joined in on the joke, referring to Lee as the “CEO of Baseline” in one of its posts and taking the trend even further. However, Vaseline has not actually changed its name. The “Baseline” rebrand is simply part of the viral internet joke.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)