Instagram’s World Record-Breaking Egg

When you think of popular Instagram accounts, you probably consider celebrities like politicians, actors, and actresses, big businesses, news outlets, popular branded pets, and even travel photographers! What you may not immediately think of is a classic egg. Nevertheless, a clever marketing campaign recently rose up to promote an egg, rising to snag the title of Instagram’s most-liked image. So, what’s the story behind the World Record Egg and what kind of marketing scheme did this turn into?

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Let’s set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram. Beating the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million)! We got this 🙌 #LikeTheEgg #EggSoldiers #EggGang

A post shared by EGG GANG 🌍 (@world_record_egg) on Jan 4, 2019 at 9:05am PST

The egg picture was posted by an account under the username @world_record_egg, an account verified by Instagram and created with what seemed like the sole purpose of getting the world record of likes for their egg mascot. The initial post went viral both for its hilarity and the strides to reach their goal of topping up Kylie Jenner’s world record-breaking photo, which held 18 million likes. The World Record Egg’s first post now holds a record 52.2 million likes! It also boasts 3 million comments and the account has since racked up 10 million followers. 

So, what was the purpose behind posting this egg? Since the record-breaking image, the account has since posted several photos of the same egg ‘hatching’, with more and more cracks. It escalated the day before Super Bowl Sunday, with a post from the account showing the egg as a football and declaring that their motivations would soon be revealed, this time advertising for streaming on Hulu! This was the first appearance of a branded message on this wildly popular account, hinting that there may be a larger marketing scheme behind the whole strategy. It was February 4th when the intentions of the World Record Egg account were finally made known, with a video stating that the egg was cracking under social pressure and promoting a link for mental health help. 

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Phew! I feel so much better now 😊 If you’re feeling the pressure, visit talkingegg.info to find out more. Let’s build this list together 🙌 #EggGang #WeGotThis #TalkingEgg

A post shared by EGG GANG 🌍 (@world_record_egg) on Feb 4, 2019 at 4:06am PST

This was a surprising and wholesome turn to a clever marketing scheme that happened to have amazing viral success, but what does this mean for the future of marketing? Younger generations are more and more likely to stick to clever, funny promotions with what may be unclear intent as opposed to what advertising they’re seeing on the regular. Humor and simplicity are having a bigger effect on marketing success, so beginning to find ways to employ it may be a good recipe for remaining relevant.

To learn more about this and how it applies to you, or to keep up on more of the latest digital marketing trends, contact i3 today!