The ‘Nothing Beats A Jet2 Holiday' TikTok Trend, Explained

Forbes

a day ago

Millions of TikTok users in recent weeks have heard—repeatedly—a British woman declare 'nothing beats a Jet2 holiday,' a viral sound stemming from a years-old advertising campaign for British airline Jet2 that has gained new life as users set the sound to videos depicting vacation disasters or other unexpected moments.
The "Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday" sound has gone viral on TikTok. (Photo by Joan ... More Valls/Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images) NurPhoto via Getty Images
For weeks, many TikTok users' For You Pages have been dominated by a familiar sound—a brief audio clip of British singer Jess Glynne's 2015 hit, 'Hold My Hand,' followed by a British woman's declaration that 'nothing beats a Jet2 holiday,' who boasts about the money people can save by booking Jet2 vacations.
Jet2, a low-cost British airline that offers vacation packages through subsidiary Jet2holidays, has used Glynne's song in commercials for years, and the viral TikTok sound comes from a 2024 commercial narrated by voice actress Zoe Lister.
Despite the audio's upbeat mood, most of the videos that have gone viral depict shocking or disastrous moments, like a person getting knocked over by the splash from a water slide, a woman almost getting hit by a rebounding axe at a throwing range and an elephant grabbing a woman's face with its trunk as she vacations in Thailand.
The most-liked video that uses the sound, which has racked up a huge 35 million likes, shows someone opening an expansive curtain in what appears to be a hotel room only to reveal a surprisingly small window.
In recent days, social media users have used the sound to accompany videos of various disasters, including videos of flooding in the New York City subway amid heavy rainfall.
Following the video of a user revealing a tiny hotel window, the second-most-liked video (14.6 million) using the Jet2 sound depicts a user whose phone is stuck on a ledge, which they attempt to retrieve using a broom and a dustpan—only for the handle of the dustpan to break off after they manage to push the phone into it. Another user racked up 14.3 million likes using the audio set to a video of a man appearing to talk to a wall at a party. The next most-liked video depicts a person getting knocked over by a splash at a water park, which has 12.9 million likes. In the fifth-most-liked TikTok post, with 12 million likes, a woman used the sound in a video of her small dog, which is motionless and appears uncomfortable as it wears a harness that is attached to a hook on a door, several feet off the ground. Big Number
1.4 million. That's how many TikTok videos have been posted using the viral 'Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday' sound. Many of the most popular videos that use the sound have amassed tens of millions of likes.
Jet2, as well as the ad's narrator Lister and Glynne, have all capitalized on its newfound success. Jet2 has posted a few videos in recent weeks that use the viral sound, and the company is advertising a vacation package deal on its website, which users can access by using a code that references the viral ad. The ad has rocketed Lister to internet stardom, as she has made numerous media appearances in recent days performing her viral narration. On Monday morning, Lister and Glynne met for the first time on the British radio channel, Capital FM, where they performed the viral sound together. Jet2 also sponsored an LGBTQ pride festival in Leeds over the weekend where drag performers held signs that read, 'Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday,' while Lister performed her narration onstage. Glynne has referenced the viral trend onstage at some of her concerts, according to videos on TikTok. While performing 'Hold My Hand' last week, Glynne teased fans, stating, 'If I see anyone doing that video…' as attendees shouted Lister's narration while Glynne sang. Glynne has also used the trend to promote her own music. To boost her newly released song, 'Back To Me,' the singer posted on Instagram: 'How mad! It's £200 off for a family of 4 when you go listen to BACK TO ME!' In some videos that have gone viral on social media, DJs have played the viral audio at nightclubs. How Did The 'jet2 Holiday' Sound Go Viral?
The viral sound stems from an advertising campaign Jet2 launched in 2022, but it didn't become a social media phenomenon until this summer. The company said in a press release in December 2022 it would launch a new slate of commercials using Glynne's song to advertise Jet2 holiday packages. In a commercial the company aired in early 2024, Jet2 boasts a deal for families looking to save money on a vacation, telling them they can save £50 (or roughly $68) per person—or £200 (about $270) for a family of four—if they book through Jet2holidays, the airline's vacation package seller. The commercial now has 2.4 million views on YouTube. It's unclear which video was the first viral 'Jet2 holiday' TikTok, but some videos using the sound had gone viral as early as May, including one in which a woman tumbles down a sand dune, which garnered nearly 10 million likes. Key Background
Jet2 has a long history of using Glynne's hit 'Hold My Hand'—which has not always made its passengers happy. In 2018, NME reported some passengers on Jet2 flights had taken to social media to complain the airline was overusing Glynne's hit, both in commercials and on its airplanes. Glynne, in August 2018, addressed the complaints, stating on a British radio show she agreed to let Jet2 use her song but she didn't know they would use the song so frequently, telling listeners she apologizes 'if it annoys you.' At the time, a Jet2 spokesperson told NME: 'Our 'Hold My Hand' concept is very popular with customers, and we receive a huge amount of positive feedback about both the advert and the song.' In March, Glynne celebrated the 10-year anniversary of releasing 'Hold My Hand' in a post on Instagram, stating: 'Here's to another 10 years and here's to Jet2 blasting it in everyone's ears!' Glynne's song was a chart-topping hit in the United Kingdom, and it was a smaller hit in the United States, reaching No. 86 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2015 and earning a platinum certification by 2018. Further Reading
Meet the voice behind the viral ad campaign taking the internet by storm (CNN)