cawacko
Well-known member
Any of the women here in a sorority? You seen any of these videos? Different world today, haha.
It reminds me of what my daughter’s kindergarten science teacher said a couple of years ago. She told us that about 70% of the jobs these kids will have as adults haven’t even been created yet. No one in my generation grew up saying we wanted to be social media influencers, for obvious reasons.
Small world story: a girl I ‘dated’ in 4th grade has a daughter who’s a Kappa at U of A, and she’s good friends with the girl Blythe mentioned here.
Blythe Beardsley and her fellow Kappa Kappa Gammas were looking to reach sorority hopefuls when they posted a choreographed dance set to “The Sweet Escape” by Gwen Stefani in August. The clip ended up reaching far beyond the University of Arizona, with over 38 million views on TikTok, and garnering lots of comments about Beardsley, who is front and center in the dance formation. “Blythe could steal my man and I would be the one to say sorry” one person wrote.
Suddenly, Beardsley wasn’t just the queen bee of recruitment; she had a chance to be an influencer. Within a few weeks, she had a public TikTok and Instagram, and she and her mom were on a flight to New York Fashion Week, paid for by the Australian fashion brand Showpo.
Sorority recruitment, also known as rush, has become a social-media Super Bowl with massive moneymaking potential for college girls. Like college athletes earning brand endorsements, sororities are now the target of companies looking to advertise products on social media.
Those who go viral stand to gain a debt-free education, expenses-paid trips and a career path after graduation.
“I can make a living, have this whole new lifestyle,” said Beardsley, a senior studying physiology. Brands like the Gen Z-focused fashion labels Garage and Outcast were in her DMs after the video went viral offering to send her free products. She felt conflicted about going down the influencer path—her aspiration is to become a veterinarian—but decided she should take advantage of the opportunity while she’s young.
Some chapters, including Beardsley’s, have brand coordinators, volunteers in the chapter who solicit and manage deals. Any money earned usually goes back into a chapter’s budget for rush, said Stacia Damron, founder of Hiking in Heels, a rush consultancy that advises students going through recruitment.
Poppi, the prebiotic soda company, distributed over 430,000 customized cans for Greek organizations across more than 2,500 chapters for fall rush this year, according to Sophia Sesto, Poppi’s vice president of culture. The company has also paid sorority members to promote their products. Claudia Soare, the president of cosmetics company Anastasia Beverly Hills, said in an email that the company started working with sororities in 2023, the same year that HBO aired a documentary on rush at the University of Alabama. In two years, Soare estimates, it has given its popular products, like eyebrow pencils and eyeliners, to over 3,000 sorority members nationwide.
Poppi, the prebiotic soda company, distributed over 430,000 customized cans for Greek organizations across more than 2,500 chapters for fall rush this year. Photo: poppi
“It’s crazy thinking about the amount of brands that reach out to sororities,” Beardsley said. Her chapter has received free products from Poppi and Kate Somerville Skincare.
“Sororities are a great example of an organization that excels in sales and marketing and PR,” said Damron. Recruitment registrations are up 13% since the 2022-2023 school year, according to the National Panhellenic Conference. Damron credits the increase in part to social media. “Now, every chapter and PNM understands that social media is part of its brand,” she said.
Showpo, the fashion brand, paid for Beardsley and a plus one to fly to New York and stay in a hotel in September, and gave her its newest clothing collection. In return, Beardsley filmed several videos for Showpo’s social media.
“If you want to go younger, and you want to find a younger demographic, sororities are where it’s at,” said Jessica Dang, head of brand for Showpo. “We want to build in America and [RushTok] is super interesting globally, so it’s a perfect place for us to activate in.”
Some chapters go viral as a group, such as Arizona State University’s Alpha Phi, which has made viral videos using free products from Skims and boots from the Frye Company. Others go viral individually. Skims paid several sorority members to star in a back-to-school campaign this year, alongside other college students.
Quinn Davis, a senior at Arizona State University and member of Alpha Phi, starred in a dancing video for her sorority her sophomore year in 2023. Her denim crop top in the shape of a star led to the nickname “star top girl.” Soon Davis, who is also on her university’s dance team, was fielding requests, including from the clothing brand Windsor, which provided an all-expenses-paid trip to Vegas for her and 10 of her friends for her birthday in April in exchange for content. It also brought her to a recent Gracie Abrams concert in Los Angeles.
“It’s been my dream and goal for a long time to pursue social media on a higher level,” Davis said. “I give my sorority so much credit for giving me that opportunity.”
Free products from brands regularly showed up at the Alpha Phi house, Davis said. “We would come down stairs in the morning and there would just be boxes from some brand. It felt like a dream.”
The queen of RushTok is Kylan Darnell, a senior at the University of Alabama and member of Zeta Tau Alpha, who went viral in 2022. A definitive breakout star of #BamaRush—a viral TikTok phenomenon showing the University of Alabama’s sorority recruitment process—she amassed 500,000 followers (up from 150,000 when she first entered college). Her fame became so widespread that her little sister’s decision not to pledge a sorority was covered in People magazine.
Three years later, she has 1.3 million followers on TikTok and is making up to six figures a month. The earnings have come from a combination of brand deals with companies such as Hard Candy cosmetics, ESPN College Gameday and Dossier perfumes, and commissions from social-media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat, and the shopping platform LTK.
“I’m going to be debt-free when I graduate. I paid for all my college by myself,” Darnell said. “It’s just crazy.”
It reminds me of what my daughter’s kindergarten science teacher said a couple of years ago. She told us that about 70% of the jobs these kids will have as adults haven’t even been created yet. No one in my generation grew up saying we wanted to be social media influencers, for obvious reasons.
Small world story: a girl I ‘dated’ in 4th grade has a daughter who’s a Kappa at U of A, and she’s good friends with the girl Blythe mentioned here.
Sorority Girls Are Cashing In Big for Their Viral Rush Videos
Like college athletes earning brand endorsements, sororities are now the target of companies looking to advertise products on social media
Blythe Beardsley and her fellow Kappa Kappa Gammas were looking to reach sorority hopefuls when they posted a choreographed dance set to “The Sweet Escape” by Gwen Stefani in August. The clip ended up reaching far beyond the University of Arizona, with over 38 million views on TikTok, and garnering lots of comments about Beardsley, who is front and center in the dance formation. “Blythe could steal my man and I would be the one to say sorry” one person wrote.
Suddenly, Beardsley wasn’t just the queen bee of recruitment; she had a chance to be an influencer. Within a few weeks, she had a public TikTok and Instagram, and she and her mom were on a flight to New York Fashion Week, paid for by the Australian fashion brand Showpo.
Sorority recruitment, also known as rush, has become a social-media Super Bowl with massive moneymaking potential for college girls. Like college athletes earning brand endorsements, sororities are now the target of companies looking to advertise products on social media.
Those who go viral stand to gain a debt-free education, expenses-paid trips and a career path after graduation.
“I can make a living, have this whole new lifestyle,” said Beardsley, a senior studying physiology. Brands like the Gen Z-focused fashion labels Garage and Outcast were in her DMs after the video went viral offering to send her free products. She felt conflicted about going down the influencer path—her aspiration is to become a veterinarian—but decided she should take advantage of the opportunity while she’s young.
Some chapters, including Beardsley’s, have brand coordinators, volunteers in the chapter who solicit and manage deals. Any money earned usually goes back into a chapter’s budget for rush, said Stacia Damron, founder of Hiking in Heels, a rush consultancy that advises students going through recruitment.
Poppi, the prebiotic soda company, distributed over 430,000 customized cans for Greek organizations across more than 2,500 chapters for fall rush this year, according to Sophia Sesto, Poppi’s vice president of culture. The company has also paid sorority members to promote their products. Claudia Soare, the president of cosmetics company Anastasia Beverly Hills, said in an email that the company started working with sororities in 2023, the same year that HBO aired a documentary on rush at the University of Alabama. In two years, Soare estimates, it has given its popular products, like eyebrow pencils and eyeliners, to over 3,000 sorority members nationwide.
Poppi, the prebiotic soda company, distributed over 430,000 customized cans for Greek organizations across more than 2,500 chapters for fall rush this year. Photo: poppi
“It’s crazy thinking about the amount of brands that reach out to sororities,” Beardsley said. Her chapter has received free products from Poppi and Kate Somerville Skincare.
“Sororities are a great example of an organization that excels in sales and marketing and PR,” said Damron. Recruitment registrations are up 13% since the 2022-2023 school year, according to the National Panhellenic Conference. Damron credits the increase in part to social media. “Now, every chapter and PNM understands that social media is part of its brand,” she said.
Showpo, the fashion brand, paid for Beardsley and a plus one to fly to New York and stay in a hotel in September, and gave her its newest clothing collection. In return, Beardsley filmed several videos for Showpo’s social media.
“If you want to go younger, and you want to find a younger demographic, sororities are where it’s at,” said Jessica Dang, head of brand for Showpo. “We want to build in America and [RushTok] is super interesting globally, so it’s a perfect place for us to activate in.”
Some chapters go viral as a group, such as Arizona State University’s Alpha Phi, which has made viral videos using free products from Skims and boots from the Frye Company. Others go viral individually. Skims paid several sorority members to star in a back-to-school campaign this year, alongside other college students.
Quinn Davis, a senior at Arizona State University and member of Alpha Phi, starred in a dancing video for her sorority her sophomore year in 2023. Her denim crop top in the shape of a star led to the nickname “star top girl.” Soon Davis, who is also on her university’s dance team, was fielding requests, including from the clothing brand Windsor, which provided an all-expenses-paid trip to Vegas for her and 10 of her friends for her birthday in April in exchange for content. It also brought her to a recent Gracie Abrams concert in Los Angeles.
“It’s been my dream and goal for a long time to pursue social media on a higher level,” Davis said. “I give my sorority so much credit for giving me that opportunity.”
Free products from brands regularly showed up at the Alpha Phi house, Davis said. “We would come down stairs in the morning and there would just be boxes from some brand. It felt like a dream.”
The queen of RushTok is Kylan Darnell, a senior at the University of Alabama and member of Zeta Tau Alpha, who went viral in 2022. A definitive breakout star of #BamaRush—a viral TikTok phenomenon showing the University of Alabama’s sorority recruitment process—she amassed 500,000 followers (up from 150,000 when she first entered college). Her fame became so widespread that her little sister’s decision not to pledge a sorority was covered in People magazine.
Three years later, she has 1.3 million followers on TikTok and is making up to six figures a month. The earnings have come from a combination of brand deals with companies such as Hard Candy cosmetics, ESPN College Gameday and Dossier perfumes, and commissions from social-media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat, and the shopping platform LTK.
“I’m going to be debt-free when I graduate. I paid for all my college by myself,” Darnell said. “It’s just crazy.”