Monthly trend breakdown: april
Welcome to our monthly trend breakdown, the home of the top trends from the previous month, and how they worked!
Artemis II
The NASA Artemis II mission launched on April 1st, with the April Fools timing immediately causing a wave of conspiracy theories. Rather than watching traditional news, the internet processed the event through memes comparing the high-tech mission to daily failures like struggling to answer emails. A TikTok from Maya Glover, daughter of the mission pilot, doing a happy dance in a t-shirt featuring her dad's face, went viral, as she casually flexed his space adventure.
April Fools
April 1st is always a minefield for brands, but Heinz got it right by teaming up with PerfectTed to announce Matcha Mayo. The internet lost its mind with half the comments disgusted and the other half begging for a real release. It was a brilliant, chaotic crossover treating marketing as entertainment and driving huge engagement by simply stirring up the timeline.
The Bieber Karaoke Moment
A bizarre viral moment happened at Coachella when Justin Bieber, facing legal complexities over his music catalogue, performed a karaoke-style set of his own tracks. The standout clip saw him effortlessly switch from a nonchalant speaking voice straight into his iconic old school singing voice. This vocal switch sparked thousands of memes and sent his 2012 track Beauty and a Beat back up the UK Official Singles Chart to a brand new peak, proving the incredible power of an unscripted live moment.
The Michael Biopic
The new Michael Jackson biopic hit cinemas and caused a massive divide. While critics gave poor reviews, fan reaction has been incredibly positive, largely due to the authentic feel of Jaafar Jackson playing his uncle alongside heavy family involvement. However, Paris Jackson sparked a viral conversation by publicly distancing herself, claiming her script notes were ignored and calling the film full of lies. Despite the drama, the release triggered a massive social media revival for classics like “Human Nature”, which became the ultimate April soundtrack for aesthetic photo dumps.
Reading Fake Comments
This trend is basically improv comedy disguised as a live stream. Creators set up a phone and pretend to broadcast while one casually reads out completely unhinged fake insults directed at the others in the room. Beyond the deadpan delivery and fake outrage, what really makes the format work is how it highlights the natural banter between everyone involved. We are seeing it done everywhere, from husbands and wives to entire family groups and even brave employees trying it out with their bosses. It is a brilliant bit of staged chaos that gives viewers a highly entertaining peek into real relationship dynamics.
Instagram Finally Adds Clickable Links
One of the most useful Instagram updates dropped at the end of April, and it is all about reducing friction for brands. The platform is finally letting users add clickable links directly to their content. Currently rolling out in two ways, Meta Verified users can now add hyperlinked words straight into their captions, like clicking the word here to shop a product. For everyone else, you can now link to your previous Reels directly from within the native Instagram editor. It is a massive step forward for businesses trying to drive conversions without forcing followers to hunt for a link in bio. As always, early adopters of new features get a slight algorithm favouring, so it is highly recommended to start testing these links immediately.