REPORT
101 Times Brands Went Viral in 2019
We used Iris, Brandwatch's AI assistant, to find 101 times brands went viral this year.
See Iris in actionBrands go viral all the time, for good reasons and for bad.
Virality is as coveted as it is feared. The right moment can transform an unknown brand into a household name, keep an established brand in the spotlight, humanize the brand, and generate positive public opinion for the brand. The wrong moment can sink a brand’s reputation, lead to calls for boycott, and potentially cause people to get fired. Meanwhile, some viral moments are neither positive or negative – they might not have any effect on the brand in question.
In this report we used Brandwatch’s AI assistant Iris to search through nearly a billion brand-related posts, identifying the conversation drivers behind the most talked about moments.
You’ll find out how both polished marketing campaigns and unexpected crises have created huge spikes in conversation about some of the world’s biggest brands.
You can find the methodology here.
Without further ado, let’s get into it.
101 times brands went viral in 2019
101
Adidas Adidas signs Beyoncé for a sneaker deal
55817 mentions, 4 April 2019
100
Adidas Arsenal footbal club's home jersey reveal (sponsored by Adidas)
57225 mentions, 1 July 2019
99
Kool Aid Kool Aid cracking jokes
58584 mentions, 12 June 2019
98
Patron A comedy tweet does the rounds, referring to the disorientating effects of too many shots of Patron
58688 mentions, 13 September 2019
97
Honda Honda is mentioned in a joke about not knowing what different cars look like
59748 mentions, 24 March 2019
96
Target Target wins favor from BTS fans
59963 mentions, 13 March 2019
95
Apple Not everyone is a fan of how the Apple Watch looks when it comes to formal occasions
61126 mentions, 10 September 2019
94
Maserati An Old Town Road joke gets a lot of laughs
62895 mentions, 5 April 2019
93
Tesla Elon Musk tweets about an upcoming shipment
63368 mentions, 20 February 2019
92
Budweiser Budweiser's emotional tribute video to Dwyane Wade proves popular on social media
63577 mentions, 9 April 2019
91
Aeromexico Aeromexico's humorous campaign around Americans travelling to the US proves popular
64499 mentions, 18 January 2019
90
Tesla Tesla introduces 'Dog Mode'
64570 mentions, 14 February 2019
89
Wells Fargo Senator Elizabeth Warren goes in on Wells Fargo
65150 mentions, 8 February 2019
88
Shell Many tweeted #boycottshell after workers were allegedly told they would not be paid if they did not show up to a Trump speech at a plant in Beaver County
65204 mentions, 17 August 2019
87
Burberry Burberry's Spring-Summer 2020 show at London Fashion Week. Blackpink's Jisoo made quite the splash within the conversation
67003 mentions, 16 September 2019
86
Rolls-Royce Meek Mill's tribute to rapper Nipsey Hustle references the convoy of Rolls-Royces at his funeral
67587 mentions, 12 April 2019
85
Chanel Chanel launches the Chanel Pharrell collection. Mentions are boosted by an appearance from Blackpink's Jennie
68662 mentions, 28 March 2019
84
Wells Fargo AOC vs Wells Fargo CEO Timothy Sloan
69443 mentions, 13 March 2019
83
Honda Honda is mentioned in another joke about not knowing what different cars look like
69947 mentions, 6 March 2019
The tweet has since been deleted
82
Louis Vuitton South Korean rapper Mino hits the runway for Louis Vuitton in Paris
70669 mentions, 20 June 2019
81
Metlife Metlife stadium announces BTS tickets are sold out
70796 mentions, 1 March 2019
80
Adidas Blackpink spark conversation in shoot for Adidas
72517 mentions, 9 October 2019
79
Nike The Wall Street Journal reports 'Nike Nixes ‘Betsy Ross Flag’ Sneaker After Colin Kaepernick Intervenes'
72818 mentions, 1 July 2019
78
Pantene Pantene's sponsorship of the BBMAs is a hit on social
74729 mentions, 23 April 2019
77
Bentley A Bentley fan shares what they'd do with an $80/h shift. Even if it was at a graveyard...
75075 mentions, 5 July 2019
76
Nike A journalist shares the story of a store that pulled Nike products
76208 mentions, 14 February 2019
75
Tesla Tesla tweets about Model Y
76308 mentions, 15 March 2019
74
Chick-fil-A A video of a dancing Chick-fil-A employee does the rounds
76625 mentions, 1 October 2019
73
Louis Vitton K-pop group Itzy attend a Louis Vitton show in NYC
76886 mentions, 10 May 2019
72
Gucci Kai from Exo at Gucci's Spring-Summer 2019 show in Paris
78043 mentions, 21 March 2019
71
Nike A celebratory tweet from Nike for the US Women's soccer team
79249 mentions, 7 July 2019
70
SAINT LAURENT Blackpink's Rosé attends YSL's Paris Fashion Week show
81332 mentions, 25 September 2019
69
Nike An older Nike ad is reshared tens of thousands of times – it's evergreen content
81438 mentions, 3 May 2019
68
Staples The Staples Center is the venue for a high profile basketball game
81601 mentions, 6 July 2019
67
Adidas Willow Smith teams up with Adidas, promoting a 100% recycled shoe
82998 mentions, 18 April 2019
66
McDonald's A video circulates in which a McDonald's employee uses a racial slur to describe a customer
84869 mentions, 12 January 2019
65
Gucci Many wonder what Gucci were thinking when they created this sweater
85854 mentions, 7 February 2019
64
Gucci Harry Styles is the face of the new Gucci Tailoring campaign
88660 mentions, 21 May 2019
63
Versace Exo member Chanyeol makes an appearance at a Versace event in Hong Kong
88771 mentions, 26 April 2019
62
Pizza Hut Pizza Hut UK snaps back at Leeds United Football Club
90035 mentions, 17 January 2019
61
Tesla Bill Pulte offers to buy one of his followers a Tesla
91617 mentions, 3 August 2019
60
McDonald's Vintage Hercules McDonald's plates hit a nostalgic nerve
91662 mentions, 20 January 2019
59
Tesla Tesla shares an update on Model 3s
91749 mentions, 1 March 2019
58
PayPal Ex-UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown calls Nigel Farage "the man of the PayPal"
94513 mentions, 20 May 2019
57
Various restaurants A number of restaurant companies are called out for supporting Trump's re-election, with some people calling for boycott
95571 mentions, 9 August 2019
56
HBO HBO releases a trailer for the upcoming final season for Game of Thrones
96820 mentions, 13 January 2019
55
Versace J-Lo wears the dress that led to the creation of Google Images
98467 mentions, 21 September 2019
54
Gillette Gillette's #TheBestMenCanBe campaign is released
100421 mentions, 16 January 2019
53
Gucci Gucci release a new perfume
101996 mentions, 1 August 2019
52
ITV BTS appear on ITV show Britain's Got Talent
104733 mentions, 30 May 2019
51
Tesla Elon Musk posts an interesting tweet...
106652 mentions, 24 April 2019
50
Samsung Samsung's August event shares the latest innovations
109258 mentions, 7 August 2019
49
MTV MTV news tweets footage of Detective Pikachu dancing to BTS and of course it went crazy
112472 mentions, 11 May 2019
48
Comedy Central Comedy Central takes Donald Trump Jr's joke and turns it around on him
113512 mentions, 1 August 2019
47
Calvin Klein Shawn Mendes tweets about his partnership with Calvin Klein (this is not the only time this partnership makes the list)
114161 mentions, 9 May 2019
46
HBO The first episode of the final season of Game of Thrones airs
114915 mentions, 14 April 2019
45
Porsche Many, including Elon Musk, comment on the world premiere of Taycan, Porsche's first all-electric sports car
116544 mentions, 4 September 2019
44
Burger King Burger King makes a joke after President Trump spells 'hamburgers' wrong in a tweet
120764 mentions, 15 January 2019
43
Pacific Gas & Electric Pacific Gas & Electric at centre of social media storm as power outages affect many dissatisfied citizens
124499 mentions, 8 October 2019
42
Dior Dior announces it will be creating outfits for K-pop group BTS
129528 mentions, 5 May 2019
41
SAINT LAURENT Kpop group GOT7's JB attends YSL's Spring-Summer 2020 show
129993 mentions, 7 June 2019
40
Calvin Klein Shawn Mendes tweets about his upcoming #mycalvins Calvin Klein campaign
130386 mentions, 17 February 2019
39
HBO The Battle of Winterfell (in the final season of Game of Thrones)
134430 mentions, Sunday, 28 April 2019
38
Givenchy Givenchy hints at the new face of its brand (it's Ariana Grande, and people joked that the silhoutte they tweeted was a little bit obvious)
136708 mentions, 10 May 2019
37
MTV The MTV awards hit social, and Lizzo's a key topic of conversation
140215 mentions, 18 June 2019
36
Gucci Harry Styles photographed at the Met Gala wearing Gucci
143079 mentions, 7 May 2019
35
HBO The penultimate episode of Game of Thrones airs
147439 mentions, 12 May 2019
34
Apple Bug revealed in FaceTime app
147550 mentions, 29 January 2019
33
Adult Swim Adult Swim announces the launch date of the next season of Rick & Morty
154566 mentions, 15 May 2019
32
Chanel Tributes paid to Karl Lagerfeld
155322 mentions, 19 February 2019
31
Apple Revelations at Apple's WWDC, including upcoming Dark Mode
158379 mentions, 3 June 2019
30
EBay A family business gets a lot of interest after they shared their back story
160581 mentions, 10 April 2019
29
Chanel Jennie from Blackpink repping Chanel at Paris Fashion Week
163629 mentions, 1 October 2019
28
EBay A sweet story from a satisfied EBay customer is shared on Twitter
167743 mentions, 18 February 2019
27
Honda Honda is named in a number of Brexit-related tweets, after the announcement that it would close its Swindon plant
168930 mentions, 19 February 2019
26
Nike Zion Williamson injured after issue with Nike shoe
177712 mentions, 21 February 2019
25
Chick-fil-A An awkward prank goes down in Chick-fil-A
180504 mentions, 24 March 2019
24
Wendy's & Popeyes Chicken Popeyes takes on Wendy's on Twitter
190363 mentions, 20 August 2019
23
Gucci Kai from K-pop brand EXO becomes Gucci's first Korean Global Ambassador
190762 mentions, 16 September 2019
22
Nintendo The Nintendo Switch Lite is announced
191974 mentions, 10 July 2019
21
HBO The final episode of Game of Thrones airs
192962 mentions, 19 May 2019
20
Nike Nike's inspirational video proves popular on social media
199588 mentions, 25 February 2019
19
Metlife BTS at the Metlife stadium
199855 mentions, 19 May 2019
18
Deutsche Bank A New York Times story around Trump and Deutsche Bank goes wild on social
204204 mentions, 20 May 2019
17
Nintendo February's Nintendo Direct gets fans excited
207652 mentions, 13 February 2019
16
Taco Bell Taco Bell's sponsorship of this Best Fan Army award pays off with a big mention from BTS
219382 mentions, 21 February 2019
15
Gucci Kai from K-pop brand EXO appears at Gucci's Cruise 2020 show. #KAI_GUCCI20 was the most popular Gucci related hashtag that day
228850 mentions, 28 May 2019
14
Nintendo Reggie Fils-Aimé retires from Nintendo
235456 mentions, 21 February 2019
13
Chick-fil-A & Popeyes Chicken Popeyes Chicken gets sassy with Chick-fil-A
265662 mentions, 20 August 2019
12
Deutsche Bank News spreads about Trump's dealings with Deutsche Bank
271970 mentions, 28 August 2019
11
Samsung #SamsungEvent trends on social in February, with the next Galaxy smartphone being revealed
287731 mentions, 20 February 2019
10
Wendy's Wendy's do what they do best on Twitter – generating unreal levels of engagement
291351 mentions, 5 May 2019
9
Nintendo A big Nintendo Direct broadcast gathers quite the audience
299544 mentions, 5 September 2019
8
MTV MTV's coverage of the GRAMMYs, especially around BTS, goes wild on Twitter
331637 mentions, 11 February 2019
7
Amazon Online personality Mr Beast offers to transfer a $1,000 Amazon gift card to one of his fans
483495 mentions, 16 March 2019
6
Amazon BTS share an Amazon promotion in Time Square, igniting interest from fans
493341 mentions, 12 April 2019
5
MTV The MTV VMAs go big on social
574930 mentions, 27 August 2019
4
Nintendo Nintendo's E3 presence makes for a big social splash once again
576621 mentions, 11 June 2019
3
Amazon Amazon Prime Day
632080 mentions, 15 July 2019
2
Amazon AOC and others are not happy about Amazon's tax contributions
658253 mentions, 15 February 2019
1
Apple Apple's latest #AppleEvent, which included the reveal of the iPhone 11 Pro, trends on social media
983862 mentions, 10 September 2019
Methodology
We used Brandwatch Consumer Research to track conversation around hundreds of top brands. We then visualized that data over a year, and used Brandwatch’s AI assistant Iris to identify what was driving the peaks in conversation.
The number of mentions you see next to the above moments represent mentions of a brand on that particular date. This means some mentions won’t refer directly to the trend we’re talking about. Instead, the trend talk about is the main driver of conversation on that day.
The only exception is when brands were involved multiple big trends in a single day (in which case we split out the volume numbers by the individual trends).