People are embracing the absurd for the extremely random “Adult Swim” TikTok trend.
Late at night Cartoon Network switches over to its series for grownups. The content block is known as Adult Swim. But this TikTok meme isn’t about Cartoon Network’s popular shows like Rick and Morty or Robot Chicken. Instead, people have latched onto a rather unusual feature of Adult Swim: its bumpers.
What are Adult Swim bumpers?
The TikTok trend has people recreating their own Adult Swim bumpers for fun. Bumpers, or bumps for short, are short clips shown before and after each commercial break. The bumps typically feature the Adult Swim logo and are a way of introducing a show while reminding audiences which content block they’re watching.
The bumpers were also are largely random, tangential scenes totally unrelated to the series being shown. Initially, they were shots of senior citizens swimming in a pool but in 2003, Cartoon Network began to mix it up with animations.
What does “AS” mean on TikTok?
If you’ve seen a video tagged “AS” on TikTok, it likely refers to “Adult Swim.” The #as hashtag currently has 1.2 billion views.
TikToker @mallllllen used the hashtag for her bump. She showed footage of clothing piles strewn across the floor.
“You have ‘nothing’ to wear… then don’t wear anything at all,” she captioned the video.
The clip received over 5.2 million views on TikTok.
“This is my favorite so far,” a user wrote.
“I rewatched this so many times,” another said.
Who is Vanoo 3000?
Every Adult Swim bumper on TikTok also uses the same sound. It’s called “Time Moves Slow (Vano 3000 Remix)” by BADBADBADNOTGOOD featuring Sam Herring. The remix is of a slower tempo song from 2016.
There are over 112,000 videos on TikTok using the remix created by producer Vano 3000 for a short mukbang video.
“People trying to discredit me for sampling probably don’t realize that I created the [adult swim] trend too,” Vano 3000 tweeted.
Some more Adult Swim bumpers
In their bump, TikToker @aaaieecoe held a card out that read “pick a number 1, 2, 3, 4.” But the back of the card said, “all sex maniacs pick 3.”
The user @blackquarterzip got creative. He recorded an aerial shot of himself studying. When he leaned back in his chair, he lost balance, then reached for a notebook at his desk to reveal the Adult Swim logo underneath as he fell down.
Like many videos in the trend, it did huge numbers, garnering over 4.2 million views.
“Yes, that was perfect,” a person responded.
“Hands down one of the best ones,” another commented.
Then the official Adult Swim account joined in on the fun. They posted a collage of footage featuring a cityscape, a wooden owl and buildings.
“We’ve been talking to you like this for a long time,” the caption read. “It’s nice to see you talking back to us. Let’s keep it going.”
The video received over 10.7 million views on TikTok.
“I knew you’d respond,” one person wrote.
“Greatest network ever,” someone said.
“It’s honestly my favorite trend so far,” a user posted.
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