As social media and influencer marketing dominate the way brands connect with consumers, Gen Z is the most sought-after group for agencies hiring copywriters. They’re tuned into the latest trends and fluent in the slang that resonates with their peers. Hever Castle (@hever_castle) in England is one of many businesses embracing this, letting Gen Z employees craft their marketing scripts. The result? A hilarious video where an elderly employee gives a castle tour while speaking in Gen Z lingo. His deadpan delivery, combined with a thick British accent, has left viewers in hysterics.
Hever Castle, located in Edenbridge, is a double-moated 14th-century castle that was once the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife and the mother of Elizabeth I. The Gen Z-inspired marketing clip they posted just a week ago has already racked up over 10 million views, and the count keeps rising.
“Hey besties,” an elderly employee dressed in a red uniform coat, can be seen saying cheerfully. “Need to touch some grass after your brat girl summer,” he asks while standing with a backdrop of a tree, his hands stuffed in his pant pockets. For the older generation, the expression “Brat summer” means enjoying life as much as one can despite the struggles one is facing. “Hever Castle understood the assignment,” he proclaims standing after an antique queen’s bed adorned with gold-trimmed drapes. In Gen Z slang, “Understood the assignment” is a way to praise someone who has completed a task, achieved a goal, or exceeded expectations.
The next frame of the clip shows the ardent employee standing in front of Boleyn’s framed portrait hanging on a wooden wall. “Pop off, queen,” he exclaims as a compliment to the queen’s beauty in Gen Z lingo. The clip transitions to the part of the castle housing the sculpture of a prominent Romanesque-style man. “My guy’s rizz is fire,” the employee remarks, using the Gen Z term for charisma or charm.
The employee is then seen walking through a corridor in the castle and giving a hi-five to another employee as both exclaim “Slay,” which means that they are doing exceptionally well. The man in a red coat then enters another chamber in the castle where the walls seem to be decorated with giant paintings. “This and yap hits different,” he says, using a term that means to talk too much.
In the following scenes, he continues to use “slay” at different spots around the castle. After a quick-timed montage of “slays,” he stands in a grand corridor with an arched roof lined with crystalline chandeliers. ”Anne of Cleaves ate, she left no crumbs when she made the Long Gallery,” he says trying to explain how Anne did a great job with the decor.
Within a week of the video being posted, it had already gone viral. Someone even referred to the castle’s video in a Craiglist job description they posted to hire Gen Z writers to write their marketing script. Apart from more than 400,000 likes on Instagram, the video was also shared on Reddit’s 10 million-member group r/MadeMeSmile where over 10,000 people upvoted it. “Damnit if this isn’t charming,” commented u/bartender9719.
“I have discovered through this sub that deadpan old people using slang is my new favorite thing,” commented u/illustrious-pen1771. u/cheese464 said, “Seriously. I would this guy to have a channel where every video starts with that ‘Hey besties!’” while u/kabeekibaki added, “Cute elder celebrating youth culture. I like it.”
A day after the video was posted and instantly went viral, the castle’s staff posted a short meme depicting the employee being welcomed as a hero by the rest of the staff. This post, too, has garnered over 1 million views.
In a follow-up post captioned, “A word from the icon himself,” the employee in question shares some words about his newfound fame, peppering them with more Gen Z lingo. “Hey besties,” he starts the video. “I hear that my video quite literally popped off last week.” After one more “slay,” he says, “Your comments are giving me life and I realize that I give off ‘main character energy.’” He goes on to throw expressions like “Have I entered my influencer era,” wrapping it up with yet another “slay.”
