About

The Car Wash TikTok Trend refers to multiple TikTok videos showing teenagers and young adults self-washing their cars to the song "Lights" by Ellie Goulding. The participatory media trend progressed during the summer of 2022 as each car wash video became increasingly flamboyant and over-the-top, similar to older trends such as the Harlem Shake. The first video spawning the trend was uploaded in June 2022.

Origin

The remix of "Lights" by Ellie Goulding used in the car wash trend was first uploaded on February 2nd, 2022, by the TikTok^[1] account ayooxemir1. As it accumulated engagement going into the months following, a trend grew alongside it of TikTokers filming their friends with phone flashlights. An example of this was uploaded on June 16th, 2022, by TikToker^[2] uneed.ja3den, whose video received roughly 3.4 million plays and 669,900 likes in one month.

On June 17th, 2022, TikToker^[3] lakestrickland uploaded a video that used the audio and showed himself slowly walking to his car, lip-dubbing the song and rubbing his arms as if he was cold. Then, in a quick edit, he and his friends are seen self-washing his car, standing on its hood, holding their hands over their faces and air-humping to the beat. Over the course of one month, the video received roughly 12.5 million plays and 2.2 million likes (shown below).

Spread

As lakestrickland's TikTok^[3] gained engagement going into mid-June 2022, other TikTokers started to recreate it. On June 22nd, 2022, TikToker^[4] certifieddrippaz69 posted the first known recreation, earning roughly 14.4 million plays and 1.8 million likes in three weeks (shown below, left). TikToker certifieddrippaz69's video also received a comment from Ellie Goulding herself, earning roughly 25,900 likes. TikToker^[5] and Hype House member Jacob Day also posted a car wash video on June 22nd, earning roughly 8.8 million plays and 1.3 million likes in three weeks (shown below, right).

As more TikTokers posted car wash videos, Ellie Goulding posted a TikTok^[6] on June 29th that was a compilation, earning roughly 28.7 million plays and 643,700 likes in two weeks (shown below, left). Additionally, the trend started receiving more meta iterations such as car wash owners sharing surveillance camera footage of people doing the trend. As an example, on June 29th, 2022, TikToker^[7] white_lly1 shared a video with a text overlay reading, "When you own the car wash and check the cameras," earning roughly 7.3 million plays and 791,800 likes in two weeks (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References