From Tiktok Clips to New Year’s Fireworks: the Visual Rise of the Jet2 Meme

An essential feature on From Tiktok Clips to New Year’s Fireworks: the Visual Rise of the Jet2 Meme, featuring expert perspectives.

London's New Year's Eve fireworks display represents one of the most meticulously produced civic spectacles in the world. Directed by pyrotechnic specialists Titanium Fireworks and soundtracked to reflect British cultural milestones, the 12-minute showcase reached over 11 million television viewers across the UK on BBC One. In past years, the audio mix highlighted moments like the coronation, royal jubilees, or feminist anthems. This year, the production team chose to immortalize a corporate package holiday commercial parody.

The clip dropped three minutes into the display. The music faded momentarily, followed by the crisp, recorded advert voiceover, which was instantly met with collective cheers across Westminster Bridge. On social platform X (formerly Twitter), mentions of "Jet2" spiked by more than 480% within thirty minutes of the broadcast. Live reaction videos flooded TikTok, where attendees filmed themselves howling in disbelief as red and blue fireworks burst in sequence with Jess Glynne's chorus.

Online discussion boards immediately lit up with debate. On Reddit's r/unitedkingdom, a thread titled "Did the London Fireworks really just play the Jet2 meme?" amassed thousands of upvotes before 1:00 AM. Many celebrated the audacity of the sound designers, while purists questioned whether commercial jingles belonged in state-funded municipal ceremonies. The producers understood their target: British internet humor lives on irony, and nothing captures the modern UK psyche quite like turning a ubiquitous travel ad into a national punchline.