“Gen Z wrote the script” TikTok trend: What happens when boomers imitate Gen Z slang?

Hey Besties, I’m going to show you our bookstore today. Let’s see what happens.” This is how Günther, a white-haired man, greeted his viewers in a Tiktok video in front of a book branch.

The video is titled “When the Gen Z trainee writes the text for the branch tour…” and is part of a viral internet trend. “Gen Z wrote the script,” he is called in English, Gen Z wrote the script. An older person who does not belong to Generation Z usually speaks and uses youth language – just as if a young employee had written the script.

And so the fact that the “Dark Romance” section is getting bigger is “sus” (suspicious) for him, bags with book prints are “slay” (great, beautiful) and the novel section is “very mindful, very demure” (very careful, very well-mannered).

An almost pensioner with the language of a 20-year-old with a cell phone addiction. So it’s all a bit exaggerated. But it matters: the bookstore chain Hugendubel generated over 63,000 likes with the video. Many international and also German companies have now jumped on the trend, such as Dr. Oetker, Duolingo or McDonald’s.

Youth words and internet slang

A British bed and breakfast reached over two million likes with its version of the trend. The principle is the same as Günther’s: an older woman leads through the rooms of the hotel, stringing together youth words and Internet slang.

“The medieval dining room has so much charm,” she commented, the medieval dining room has so much charm. The users of the platform are thrilled, “absolutely brilliant,” they write, “Now I want to spend the night there.”

The trend, which probably originally came from England, shows in a humorous and sweet way the generational differences between Boomers and Gen Z, who are now clashing in the world of work.

The young 2000s generation that grew up with the Internet can’t relate to the boomers’ long commercials – just like the older ones can’t understand the Denglish of the young. The clips thrive on the interplay of opposites.

A few days ago, Christian Dürr from the FDP provided proof that a trend does not always work. “Welcome to the Bundestag, where the ‘real tea’ took place,” he greeted the audience on the party’s Tiktok account. About Christian Lindner he says: “His speeches, pure slay!”, praising the finance minister.

However, the reaction to the 75-second clip was different than probably expected: “I don’t know, is it necessary?” commented one user. Another asks: “Don’t you feel stupid?” Criticism also comes from within your own ranks: “I find the video embarrassing. “I find it extremely embarrassing,” admitted Franziska Brandmann, the chairwoman of the Young Liberals, on the talk show “Markus Lanz” on Thursday evening. “He didn’t eat,” as Tiktok would judge.