If you’ve been on TikTok in recent weeks, you may have found yourself on “August 27th TikTok”— a cryptic side of the app characterised by creepy videos promising a big reveal on August 27th.
Set to the sound ‘Coffee Coffee by Playsongs People,’ (apparently one of the rarest sounds on TikTok), videos have no hashtags or @s to ensure users find them organically on their For You Page. The idea is that if you come across these videos on your own, you have been “chosen” and something amazing will happen to you on August 27th.
August 27th TikTok videos typically include text on the screen with messages like, “You’ve been chosen,” “You’re apart of something bigger,” “You are now on Deep TikTok,” and “See you on the other side.” Some encourage users to reshare their own versions with the same sound to ensure something good happens on August 27th.
So that leaves us wondering…
WTF is happening on August 27th?
Well, as it turns out…probably nothing.
August 27th TikTok first emerged when user Samantha Reneé uploaded a video on July 6th with the caption, “If this is on your FYP…Congratulations you’ve been chosen. Remember the date August 27th it’s important.” Samantha’s original video was not set to ‘Coffee Coffee,’ but instead to the slow-motion version of ‘Such A Whore.’ It is unclear why the trend took off using a different sound.
With over 6 million views and counting, Samantha’s video quickly turned into a trend. However, it seems the creator doesn’t actually have psychic abilities.
Shortly after the video went viral, Samantha responded in a TikTok comment, writing that she had “no idea that’d blow up like that” and she just “wanted to make a weird video.”
She also commented saying, “The fact that people actually think I know what’s gunna happen in a month is ridiculous come on now ya’ll.”
So it seems like August 27th might just be another random day.
But with 2020’s track record, we’re not totally convinced.