Posted on 2nd June 2023
Pet owners on TikTok are having fun with a "P for Papas, it's a Papa's Party" trend where they hold up their cats, dogs and other animals to make it look like they're dancing with their paws in their air. Take a look at this box of examples on Buzz from Shooglebox:
It all started on May 7 with a video by @june.hound who was visiting her brother and his girlfriend and amused by them singing the song to their ginger cat Apollo while making him dance. June's video has now been viewed 16 million times and had 3 million likes.
June, who usually posts about her dog, then shared a video on May 9 joking about her reaction "when I told her that the video of her cat cousins went viral on HER account" (1.7 million views).
The trend really started taking off when June's brother Cody Rey posted a video with Apollo on his own page on May 11. This has now racked up more than 16 million views and 3.5 million likes, and the sound from it has been used by more than 30,000 people in their own videos.
A more recent version, where Apollo is dressed in a blue shark costume, is getting a great response too, with people saying it's a "remix" and even the official Pizza Hut brand commenting: "It's a Papas party! 🦈🕺🪩"
This video by @amydoessomestuff, with her cat "joining the papa's party", was one of the early big videos on Cody's original sound and has had 4 million views and close to 1 million likes since she posted it on May 19.
Commenters on Amy's video love the trend, saying "I have seen like a million of these, and I'm not mad at all", "Literally never disappointed with this audio" and "I will never get tired of watching these videos".
People have also been discussing the meaning of "Papas", which is thought to be a nickname: "It's Spanish slang used for some pets, it's kind of like 'baby boy'. Papa can mean dad but also means guy/boy like 'papito'."
Other popular videos on the sound include @sillyysimon with their cat giving what one commenter says is the "best papa's party stretch" (6.2 million views, 1.5 million likes), @ringodanyan with their Bengal Munchkin (6 million views), @busybrescreations whose cat added some "footwork" to the dance (2.9 million views), and @longdongpayton with their little foster kitten having "the tiniest papa's party" (3.2 million views).
It's branched out beyond just a cat trend, with accounts like @skylyndowdy proving that pets of all kinds are welcome to the party with a video dancing with their opossum. Other animals who've joined in the fun include @pipinofina the chihuahua, bearded dragon @heli.the.dragon, @cierra_jas44 with a frog, @saras.turtletown who hosted a "Basil party" for their baby tortoise, @chinpals with Linus the chinchilla , @macntoshi_ with a guinea pig, and fat-tailed gerbil @maruthedoop.
Accounts like @theronraines, @saintludo and @laurdiy are joking about the song playing on loop in their heads while they're trying to concentrate on other things. @cor.315 estimated "it's like 97% of my FYP and has been stuck in my head for 3 days straight".
Cake designer Amanda from Baking Thursdays, who bakes "weird things", often inspired by trending sounds and memes, has made a papa's party-themed hot chocolate bomb.
Brands are starting to pick up on it including Sanrio getting their yellow Pompom mascot to dance to the song, streaming service Peacock making a "Puss In Boots Party" edit with a clip from The Last Wish, the Pokemon Company and The Beatles Story showing their plush toys "stretching" and dancing, Vita Coco using the song to promote their Pressed coconut water, and gaming accessories brand HyperX adapting the lyrics to talk about "c for coiled cables, it's a coined cable party".
And the song is starting to make its way outside of TikTok – with American singer Mothica singing it at Rockville 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida but finding it was "the most embarrassing moment of my life", and The Toxhards band more successfully getting the crowd to chant the lyrics back to them at a gig.
Spotting TikTok trends
The "P for Papas, it's a Papa's Party" meme is just one of the new trends quickly picked up and tracked by our Buzz service, which highlights some of the big talking points emerging on TikTok and social media every day.
Buzz from Shooglebox is used by journalists, creators and brand teams who need to spot and stay on top of the latest trends.
It includes a constantly updated box of cards showing at a glance and linking to viral videos, TikTok trends and other things going big on social media. Buzz customers also get regular updates alerting them to some of the things they might otherwise miss or discover late.
This stack of cards for the "P for Papas, it's a Papa's Party" song gives you an idea of how Shooglebox works – and how it could help you go from spotting a trend right at the start to tracking its development over time.
If you're interested in signing up or finding out more about Buzz get in touch here.
