You see, this is why we can’t have nice things.
One minute, you’re laughing away at a video depicting a drunk man falling off a sun lounger to the soundtrack of ‘Darling hold my hand…’, then Donald Trump goes and ruins it.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock (which is where Trump should be), you’ll be very much aware of the TikTok trend where Jess Glynne’s upbeat hit ‘Hold My Hand’ is paired with clips of things going terribly wrong – usually on holiday. This is then followed by a chirpy woman’s voice declaring, ‘Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday’.
It’s funny. It’s silly. It’s completely everywhere. But this week, things took a darker turn.
How it all started
Jet2 has been using Glynne’s track in its ads for years. As someone who has been on a few Jet2 holidays (which have always been top notch, by the way), I too have joined the millions who have slowly felt themselves going mad on a 4-hour flight to Corfu as THAT song is piped continuously through the flight speaker.
The problem is, there’s no escape. Yes, you can put your headphones in, but by that point, the words ‘nothing beats a Jet2 holiday’ have been firmly embedded in your subconscious and will become your unwanted travel companion for the rest of the trip. An earworm of the most persistent kind.
According to Jet2 though, the song ‘continues to be enormously popular with customers’ (really?!). But others, like me, would beg to differ, as the tweet below suggests:
God only knows how the poor cabin crew feel about it.
And then…along came THAT TikTok trend.
TikTok becomes the extra member of Jet2’s marketing team
People in their droves started using the Jet2 ad audio over videos of holidays and travel plans gone wrong. Hotel rooms with tiny windows. Water slide wipeouts. Poolside brawls. Failed attempts to retrieve lost phones. The worse the mishap, the better the fit.
The trend exploded, spawning more than two million videos on TikTok with celebs such as Jeff Goldblum doing their own versions. For a while, it looked like a dream result for Jet2 - loads of free publicity, great reach and a genuine cultural moment tied directly to their brand.
But just this week, the official X account of the White House posted its own version, showing footage of handcuffed and shackled people being escorted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) onto a flight. The clip ends with a smirking Donald Trump giving a thumbs up before pointing directly at the camera. The caption? ‘When ICE books you a one-way Jet2 holiday to deportation. Nothing beats it!’
I won’t be sharing said post because it is repulsive – a hate-filled stain on what has been a light-hearted trend. No humour, just pure cruelty.
Jess Glynne branded the video ‘sick’, while Zoe Lister, the advert's voiceover artist, said she would never condone her voice being used to promote what she called ‘Trump and his abhorrent policies’.
After originally staying they wouldn’t comment, Jet2 has also moved sought to distance itself from the White House’s video:
“We are of course aware of a post from the White House social media account. This is not endorsed by us in any way, and we are very disappointed to see our brand being used to promote Government policy such as this.”
I’m guessing putting out a statement like this was probably not on their 2025 bingo card at the start of the year.
What now for Jet2 Holidays?
If this teaches us anything, it’s that once a brand’s message goes viral, it’s no longer within their control. What starts as a catchy jingle can very quickly become a meme, a movement or worse - you risk spawning a monster that becomes impossible to rein in.
Even before all this, many of us were growing very weary of the song. But the love-hate element fed into Jet2’s branding nicely, in the same way Marmite leans into its divisiveness. Jet2 got all the visibility it could ask for - and then some.
Now, though, we’ve gone beyond funny memes and into the realm of political controversy, giving the Jet2 marketing team one hell of a headache.
Dare I say it….perhaps it’s time for the brand to let go of Jess Glynne’s hand and finally put the ad to bed? After all, if ‘nothing beats a Jet2 holiday’, it might be wise to keep that phrase tied to actual holidays - not headlines you'd rather avoid.
