Last Updated on July 24, 2026
1.4 million+ TikTok videos using the audio
Top videos passed 35 million likes
Voiceover artist hired, not silenced
The most quoted ad line of summer 2025
The move
In summer 2025, TikTok found an ordinary Jet2holidays ad and turned it into the internet’s favourite punchline. The audio is Jess Glynne’s Hold My Hand under a cheerful voiceover from actress Zoë Lister: “Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday. Right now, you can save £50 per person.”
The joke was the contrast. People played that relentlessly sunny audio over holiday disasters. Collapsing parasols, flooded campsites, children screaming on flights, a wasp attack at a beach bar. More than 1.4 million videos used the sound, and the biggest racked up tens of millions of likes.
Most brands would have panicked. Their ad had become shorthand for a holiday going wrong. Some would have sent takedown requests. Jet2 did the opposite. They posted their own videos on the sound, put discount codes behind the catchphrase, brought Zoë Lister out for interviews and live performances of the line, and put her on radio with Jess Glynne. By New Year’s Eve the line had made it into London’s fireworks display.
Why it worked
Because the meme was never really mocking Jet2. It was mocking holidays, and every mention repeated the brand name and the £50 offer word for word. The internet was doing flawless distribution of a full ad read, for free. All Jet2 had to do was not ruin it.
Fighting a meme kills the joke and makes you the villain. Joining it politely usually lands flat. Jet2 found the third option: feed it. They gave the trend new material, made the voice behind it a celebrity, and attached a booking incentive to the attention. The trend stayed fun, and the brand banked the awareness.
There is an honest caveat. Attention is not bookings, and nobody outside Jet2 knows exactly what the meme did to sales. But the alternative was to spend the same summer as the brand that sued its own customers’ favourite joke. When the internet hands you the microphone, the only losing move is to snatch it back.
The principle
You do not control what the internet does with your brand. You only control your response. If the joke repeats your name and your offer, the joke is a media channel, and your job is to keep it running, not to correct it.
Steal this
You do not need a viral audio. You need the reflex. Here is the small business version.
Know what is being said. Set up alerts, check your reviews, search your business name on Facebook and TikTok monthly. You cannot respond to attention you never see. Most small firms find out about their moment a week after it passed.
When the joke lands on you, judge the target. If the joke repeats your name without attacking your integrity, it is free reach. A plumber teased for a van sign, a cafe for a bizarre sandwich name: that is material, not a crisis.
Respond in kind and quickly. Match the tone, add something new to the joke, and never post a lawyer’s letter where a punchline would do. Speed matters more than polish. A decent reply this week beats a perfect one next month.
Attach a mechanism. Jet2 tied discount codes to the catchphrase. If your moment brings strangers to your page, give them somewhere to land: an offer, a booking link, a sign-up. Attention without a next step is applause, not revenue.
Sources & further reading
- The ‘Nothing Beats A Jet2 Holiday’ trend, explained · Forbes
- The voice behind the viral Jet2 audio · NBC News
- Did the meme actually help the airline? · IBTimes UK
Where they are now
The audio is still in use well into 2026, Zoë Lister remains a minor celebrity, and the phrase has entered ordinary British speech. Jet2 never had to buy the reach.
The Whito verdict
Jet2 did not create the moment and deserves no credit for the joke. What they deserve credit for is discipline. Every instinct in a corporate marketing department says protect the asset, correct the record, issue guidance. Jet2 ignored all of it and simply kept the game going.
Your version of this is smaller but the choice is identical. When attention arrives on the internet’s terms, you can demand it behaves, or you can hand it more material and put an offer next to it. Only one of those makes money.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the “Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday” meme?
A 2025 TikTok trend where users played the cheerful audio from a Jet2holidays ad, voiced by Zoë Lister over Jess Glynne’s Hold My Hand, on top of clips of holidays going wrong. More than 1.4 million videos used the sound and the biggest passed 35 million likes.
How did Jet2 respond to the meme?
They leaned in. Jet2 posted its own videos using the audio, tied discount codes to the catchphrase, and worked with voiceover artist Zoë Lister on interviews, radio appearances and live performances, keeping the trend alive rather than fighting it.
What can a small business learn from Jet2?
Monitor what is said about you, judge whether a joke is actually hostile before reacting, reply quickly in the same tone, and attach an offer or booking link to the attention. Free reach only becomes revenue if there is a next step.
