By now, we’ve all heard of TikTok’s viral girl dinner. It’s a charcuterie board/snack plate meal that you cobble together from anything you can find in your fridge at the end of a long day. It’s usually back-of-the-fridge celery, hummus, Ritz crackers, some leftover chicken tenders, and maybe half a block of cheese, if you’re so lucky. The meal is not something that you go to the store looking to cultivate and certainly nothing I would order at a restaurant. So, when I heard that Popeyes had added a limited-edition girl dinner to their menu, I was confused. Popeyes' take on girl dinner is a mix of A la Carte Biscuits, Red Beans & Rice, Mashed Potatoes, Homestyle Mac & Cheese, Cajun Fries, and Coleslaw — basically, the sides listed together in the app, but you order them separately. I mean, seriously? If I have the energy to go to Popeyes, I’m ordering a chicken sandwich, not girl dinner. Girl dinner happens when you’re too exhausted to make dinner and do the dishes. I would hardly say it’s my chosen dinner.
I’d like to say that this is the first marketing snafu related to TikTok, but alas, it’s one of many. It’s common to see companies hop on a trend to try and sell their brand or product. Right now, Blueberry Milk nails are being popularized all over the place, with Sophia Richie and Sabrina Carpenter sporting the style. Nail polish brands like Naliboo and Nailtopia already have Blueberry Milk nail polishes, and Etsy is bursting with Blueberry milk kits. After looking through TikTok, I think @katiehub perfectly sums up the stupidity of the whole situation.
Although Popeyes is the first chain to introduce a “Girl Dinner” menu option, it’s not the first company to use the trend to their advantage. Stores like Whole Foods have been capitalizing on the trend in their latest marketing videos. In the video, captioned “making girl dinner with our besties,” Whole Foods attempts to market their products for a charcuterie-style meal, using the viral TikTok sound as they overlay close-ups of Whole Foods products.
And then, how could I forget to include Fresh Market’s attempt at the trend.
The Today Show dedicated a whole segment to the hosts sharing their favorite girl dinners. And, they described anything but girl dinner.
It doesn’t seem like Hoda didn’t even watch the original girl dinner video below. Girl dinner is supposed to calorically and nutritionally function as a full meal. But Hoda's meal of a serving of peanut butter, three Ritz crackers with jam, and three Ritz crackers with melted cheddar feels a little small. Girl dinner is not itself a snack, but a meal made out of several snacks.