POV: A TikTok goes viral

Tommy Flaim (BBA ‘16)

When Tommy Flaim (BBA ‘16) posted a video to TikTok to promote his co-founded startup Fox & Robin, he struck a chord.

The 28-second video starts with a closeup of Flaim’s pensive face considering, “pov: you start a new company and you only hire Gen Z.” What follows is about a dozen slides of real employee emails and their sign-offs, including “Hasta la pasta :-)”, “Talk soon loser” and “Apologies for existing :’).” All are far cries from the traditional millennial and baby boomer closing of “Best regards” and “Sincerely yours.”

Whether Flaim intended it to or not, the video went viral across multiple social media platforms, garnering 2.9M likes, 19.5K comments and more than 100K shares. Generally, the response was positive, with viewers liking how the Gen Z staffers were authentic with their boss and enjoying their various senses of humor.

But Flaim believes it may have gone viral for another reason.

“We received over 1,500 inbounds from people wanting jobs because of that TikTok,” said Flaim. “People clearly are tired of using corporate jargon/pleasantries 100% of the time. Additionally, many praised our social mission and expressed interest in working for a company that aligned with their values.”

Because of the video, the athleisure wear company has now been featured in outlets such as Buzzfeed, Yahoo! and Inc. Magazine, allowing Fox & Robin to publicize their social mission: to reduce factory worker exploitation by commissioning audits of its partner factories and prohibiting them from subcontracting the orders.