Jet2, the budget travel company, has found itself at the centre of a viral TikTok meme that pairs its cheerful jingle with unflattering holiday footage. The trend features Jess Glynne's 'Hold My Hand' playing over clips of mishaps such as plane fights, water sports accidents, and drunken disasters, with the tagline 'Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday' adding irony.
One TikTok video with over 1.6 million likes shows a woman nearly drowning in waist-high water after a water slide in Tenerife, requiring a lifeguard rescue. Another clip with 16,000 likes depicts a man lying on a sun lounger in the rain. The hashtag #nothingbeatsajet2holidays has amassed more than 25,500 posts, and over 1.3 million videos have used the sound.
Jet2 has not commented on the trend but has engaged by posting its own clip with the audio and launching a challenge offering a £1,000 holiday voucher as a prize. Voice actor Zoë Lister and singer Jess Glynne have also participated, with Glynne posting a miming video and Lister re-enacting the slogan on radio.
Dr Andreas Schellewald, a digital culture researcher, noted that such campaigns are 'tricky terrain' for brands, offering reach but risking loss of control over public perception. Adam Gordon, a social media strategist, observed that the original ad was designed for social media, but the meme has shifted it from polished Instagram perfection to the messy reality of TikTok.
