It’s one of the biggest trends on TikTok right now, but why has Binley Mega Chippy received all this attention, and where did it start? Our very own Senior Social Content Producer, Adam Seal has taken a look.
Humble Beginnings
It all started on April 26th, when TikTok user @craigs.kebab.house posted a clip of static images in a slideshow to showcase his appreciation for a range of takeaways, with the very first one featuring Binley Mega Chippy. The account seems to be a meme page, as every post of theirs features house music and a random combination of drink and food products. The original post generated around 81k views and 10k likes (source).
This success birthed the user @binleymegachippyfan53, and with a first post dating back to 18th May, they posted a range of content focused entirely on the chippy. Videos that asked viewers if they thought different fictional characters, musicians, influencers, and even memes such as Harambe would have enjoyed the chippy.
The second account to bring into the fold is @piri.v2, also known as Piri – a musician breaking into the music scene with her partner Tommy Villiers. On one of @binleymegachippyfan53’s videos, somebody asked if Piri if she would like Binley Mega Chippy. @binleymegachippyfan53 then video replied to the comment using one of Piri’s songs.
Now that Piri was in on the meme, @binleymegachippyfan53 took it a step further. Duetting with one of her videos where she shows a preference for dance music boys over indie boys, the fan account utilised TikTok’s ‘Tenor Singing Voice’ effect (similar to the text-to-speech feature) that provides text-to-singing with a backing track. This led to the Binley Mega Chippy song, entirely created with a TikTok effect. Piri responded positively, prompting a user aptly named “@binleymegachippyfc” to demand “make this a sound”.
The Morbius Effect
If you’ve seen social media this year, you’ll know there’s been a Morbius meme circulating platforms (primarily Twitter). The words “it’s morbin time” might sound familiar to you, and somehow Binley Mega Chippy got some of its own Morbius magic.
Someone decided to start posting fake promos for a meal deal at BMC called the “Morbius Meal”. A battered piece of fish, chips, mushy peas, and a can of root beer for £4.99. Then people started to fake review the meal, one even claiming the chips alone brought their grandfather back from death’s door. And the best part is that the chippy workers have no idea what the Morbius Meal is, so if you ask for it they won’t have a clue what you’re on about.
The Peak
Following the major success and trending across social media platforms, people have been travelling to Binley Mega Chippy (from around the world!) to create content, review the food, and feed into the hype now surrounding the takeaway. You’ll find videos where people have brought a unicorn (really a horse) to the chippy, people boxing outside in silly costumes, or even someone having a first date there.
Additional trends?
Now that TikTok’s Tenor Singing Voice effect has become one of the stars of this trend, people are now using it to create songs to what they will likely now dub as the Binley Mega Chippy theme song. @lozzascookiebarss created her song for her business, someone else created a post claiming Ronaldo is better than Messi. Now that this effect has taken off, expect to see many more videos to continue using it.
Key takeaways (pardon the pun)
As a brand on TikTok, you’ll be looking at Binley Mega Chippy and thinking “how can I emulate this?”. Unfortunately, there is no definitive way to get yourself trending on the TikTok platform, its algorithm is a tricky one to nail down and have working in your favour. Whilst we’re all unsure on how (and why) Binley Mega Chippy took off the way that it did, there are a few key learnings from this that can help increase your chances of viral TikTok success.
- Organic and unpolished creative has the best chance of finding success. Not a single piece of creative found within this deep dive is polished and of high production value. In fact, every video that contributed to Binley Mega Chippy’s success came from content that was produced entirely on mobile and in-platform. You don’t need high production and quality to trend on TikTok.
2. Utilise the effects available on the platform. Part of Binley Mega Chippy’s success was down to the use of the Tenor Singing Text effect, which was the first significant use of this fresh feature. Utilising unknown or little-known effects creatively can allow you to stand out and spark a moment (we’ll forever associate the song with the chippy now, they’ve essentially claimed it).
3. Trends often have multiple influences, as we’ve found with Binley Mega Chippy. The takeaway didn’t post any content of its own, it was all generated by other people and influenced by other material, resulting in this explosive trending moment. Think about partnering up with influencers and big accounts to feed into your content to increase its chances of trending. Even try to work in a meme reference where possible to increase its entertainment value (i.e. the Morbius Meal), perhaps with a meme account on TikTok helping to feed into this. But remember: make it appear as organic/natural as possible. If you try to force it or make it seem too constructed, users will notice and choose not to engage with it.