Memes and More Legal Loopholes

1. Meme Mania
Everyone’s sharing the latest Ryan Gosling meme. Why can’t we? Unless you’re under extra scrutiny and regulations (alcohol, pharma, cannabis), you’re probably OK sharing memes in good taste. The risk directly correlates with your reach. Leighty says, “For small brands, the positive outweighs the negative. Ryan Gosling isn’t coming after your 2K followers, but his team may come after a brand that started the trend and has 50K followers.” 

You may get a cease and desist, but you can easily pull the content. Some bigger brands even build legal fees into their budgets because the virality is worth more to them than a potential suit, says Leighty.

Legally, memes aren’t in the public domain, so we advise against using them in paid placements. The best case scenario is to play on the cultural moment and make it your own, as in this Poppi example.

2. Visual vs. Audio Trends
Because trending audio is off the table, it doesn’t mean you can’t tap into visual or template trends. From “Ins and Outs” to the “Of Course” trend, keeping a pulse on visual trends, original sounds, and templates you can make your own is vital to skirting copyright issues or harsh brand guidelines. Ideally, your team can create these low-budget short-form videos in-house. If not, we suggest nurturing relationships with UGC creators to deliver tight turnarounds.

3. The New Google - Optimizing for Legal Search
Sure, you can’t say “Super Bowl” or other legal constraints, but you can say football-related search terms in the caption and manually on screen, use creative copy like “the big game,” add copyright-checked hashtags (do your due diligence here), and even hide targeted but legal keywords behind the content. 

There’s always a workaround, says Calvin Millien, Account Supervisor at Vayner Media. “We’re always creating content based on the search in app and then optimizing it. Yeah, you have to post manually, but it’s worth it to get the engagement. Also, the community management side is HUGE - those comments are great for keywords and engagement.” 

Need help creating content ideas, optimizing for search, writing copy that converts, and cultivating community? Let’s get your content calendar off the ground with our a-la-carte Mini Social Media Strategy package.

4. Evergreen Ideas
For brands in the pharma, alcohol, cannabis, or even SAAS space where a physical product isn’t available, TikTok trends can be tricky. Instead, try focusing on evergreen editorial ideas that consistently convert. 

Brooke Stuart, a Social Media Manager who’s worked with big brands in the pharmaceuticals space, says, “Pharma has a ton of regulations, but we found success using unboxing videos where the focus wasn’t on the product but on an adjacent product like a guidebook inside the box.” This strategy allows the content to feel UGC-esque, focus on the lifestyle aspect of the product, and perform higher than commercial style alternatives. 

Getting creative within constraints can also be great practice. Leighty says, “Take Dune, for example; instead of using an image of Zendaya in the dress, turn the alcohol bottle into the dress. Instead of using a picture of Tom Sandoval, pair a worm with a mustache with your product. Tweak the cultural reference so your brand gets it.”

The best option is to create unique and valuable content that meets your audience’s desires - minus the trends. Our favorite example is Planet Money’s TikTok, which offers original content ideas and aesthetics - think Bill Nye, mixed with dark humor and animations. This strategy works for Planet Money because they’re not trying to be anyone else. They’re just being themselves. 

5. Communication as the Key
Even after implementing all the sneaky strategies, creative loopholes, and innovative ideas, your legal team can take weeks to reply or, worse, squash the concept after the creative is complete. “I’ve had to explain what Facebook is to a pharma legal team, even mockup entire pages down to the comment,” says Stuart. 

Without understanding the market, nuance, or even business model, out-of-touch legal teams become a bottleneck. Lawyer Frank Poe says, “It’s on the two teams [creative and legal] to educate each other - to create a common understanding of the business. And sometimes lawyers are so ingrained in the law practice that they don’t take the time to understand the nuances of the business.” They’re doing their jobs, but sometimes a bit too well. 

As an advocate for the brand, taking initiative and partnering with legal is imperative. Sullivan has found success at No Revisions by setting weekly meetings with legal teams, analyzing each piece of content with both brand and legal for tone-of-voice and brand clarity, and supplying competitor brand references to explain trends and usage. We recommend discussing sticky points like risk vs. reward, potential increases to the bottom line, and the opportunity to fail. Case in point: before Duolingo went viral, their social media manager launched a TikTok before it was approved.

When prepping editorial calendars, No Revisions can provide several options of copy, mockups, and educational assets to enhance knowledge and communication between brand and legal teams. With services from strategy to content creation, we do the heavy lifting for you. With our team's expert knowledge, your clear understanding of the brand, and legal’s compass, we can deliver a strategy that increases the bottom line and removes stress from both sides of the fence.