The recent kiss between two unlikely internet celebrities, Belle Delphine and Oliver Tree, sent shockwaves across social media. Their bizarre collab, which featured the two in an exaggerated liplock, ignited a firestorm of reactions ranging from confusion to outrage.
As a social media marketing expert with over a decade of experience analyzing viral trends, I believe this event provides valuable insights into the current state of internet culture. In this in-depth article, I‘ll examine the key takeaways that marketers and content creators can learn from this staged controversy.
A Profile of the Provocative Stars
To understand why this kiss stirred such strong emotions, let‘s first look at who these people are and how they built their followings:
Belle Delphine
- 22-year-old internet model and YouTuber from the UK
- Rose to fame in 2019 by selling her bathwater to fans for $30 a jar
- Has 1.5M Instagram followers, 2M fans on TikTok
- Known for risque cosplay/anime aesthetic and baiting her young male fans
- Described as an expert internet troll and provocateur
Oliver Tree
- 28-year-old American singer, comedian, filmmaker
- Known for absurd humor, bowl haircut, viral 2017 song "When I‘m Down"
- Has 1.7M Instagram followers, 1.5M YouTube subscribers
- Music videos have 250M+ views
- Known for bizarre persona and satirical, surreal content
Despite their different backgrounds, both have built a following off of subversive humor, thirst traps, and a meta-ironic internet presence. They‘re provocateurs adept atcourting controversy for clout.
The Kiss Seen ‘Round the Internet
On February 21st, Oliver Tree posted a 10-second video on his Twitter and Instagram accounts showing him kissing Belle Delphine. They were dressed as eboy/egirl anime caricatures and captioned as "famous eboy" and "famous egirl."
The video quickly went massively viral, amassing over 1.6 million views on Twitter in just 3 days. Engagement stats showed:
- 50.3k Likes, 10.5k Retweets, 15.5k Quote Tweets
- 28.5k views on Instagram
It was captioned by Tree: "What finding love on the internet looks like."
This intentional audience-baiting instantly ignited fiery discourse. Reactions ranged from disturbed to outraged to humorous, with most agreeing it was an unsettling display.
Parsing the Passionate Reactions
Both creators received ample amounts of backlash, but the controversy also provided insight into current internet culture. Analyzing the responses reveals several key themes:
1. The popularity of cringe/reaction content
Recent years have seen cringe and reaction-based content explode online, especially among Gen Z demographics. According to research by Morning Consult, over half of Gen Z interacts with cringe content online.
Delphine and Tree aimed to trigger mass "cringing" by violating social taboos. The mass discomfort and outrage fueled the video‘s virality, indicating that staged provocation remains a potent strategy for generating attention.
2. Parasocial relationships and boundaries
Many fans expressed outrage at the idea of their favorite internet stars interacting so intimately. According to Social Media Today, 83% of 18-29 year-olds have parasocial relationships with creators. When this pseudo-intimate illusion is shattered, it creates a strong reaction.
As media psychologist Dr. Pamela Rutledge notes, "Fans have difficulty separating their ‘relationships‘ with online personas from reality." This controversy shocked fans by exposing the artificiality.
3. The gender dynamics of online hate
Both Delphine and Tree received ample criticism, but the extreme vitriol directed specifically at Delphine revealed lingering gender bias. A UNESCO study found that women journalists/influencers receive nearly 3x more online harassment.
Controversial women often become the primary targets of mob hate. This backlash ties into long-standing societal contempt and objectification of women‘s sexuality.
4. The allure of boundary-breaking content
From eating Tide Pods to guerrilla marketing stunts, internet creators continually one-up each other in outrageous boundary-pushing content. As clinical psychologist Dr. Barbara Greenberg notes, this ties into inherent human interest in the aberrant and provocative.
She writes, "Pushing the envelope in terms of what is socially acceptable fascinates people." This kiss aimed to generate attention by deliberately violating taboos.
5. Irony poisoning and the post-ironic landscape
In today‘s post-ironic online ecosystem, it‘s often impossible to discern intent. Was the video genuine attraction or ironic performance art?
Media studies scholar Wallace Ludel argues we‘ve entered a state of "irony poisoning" where satire and reality are indistinguishable. Absurdist content thrives by embracing this ambiguity.
6. Chasing clout through collaborations
In the attention economy, viral collab videos allow influencers to merge audiences and juice engagement. According to analytics firm HypeAuditor, [66% of influencer collaborations are purely for marketing].
The Delphine/Tree kiss was likely an artificial clout-chasing stunt, but does that even matter anymore? Content reigns supreme over authenticity.
Key Takeaways for Social Media Marketers
While this bizarre kiss left many feeling bewildered, it provides valuable lessons for anyone in the social media space:
- Staged controversy and absurdity remain potent tools for going viral
- Leveraging outrage culture can produce engagement, but consider ethics
- Blurring irony and reality taps into post-modern appetite for surrealism
- Collabs allow for cross-pollination and merged audiences
- Controversial personas attract attention, both positive and negative
- Know your core audience and their emotional triggers/relationships
In today‘s chaotic internet landscape, youth audiences crave absurdity, provocation, and the violation of norms and boundaries. However, as marketers we must balanceclickbait with morality. Consider your values before jumping into outrage culture or staged controversy.
While this kiss was just a silly attention-grabbing stunt, it does reflect deeper truths about internet culture by exposing:
- The appeal of cringe-based content
- How parasocial relationships form online
- Gender bias around controversy
- Human interest in boundary-breaking
- The post-ironic, nihilistic online landscape
- The empty chase for clout
As marketing adapts to the digital age, we must keep our finger on the pulse of both viral trends and cultural psyche. Absurdity may spread like wildfire, but thoughtful messaging builds loyal communities. Master the balance, and you have a potent toolkit for the digital landscape ahead.
