Why Is Everyone on TikTok Singing About Berries and Cream?

The year was 2007. We were no strangers to offbeat commercials advertising various food items. We had already lived through those horrifying rodents with human mouths and eyes singing about Quiznos subs. We had become inured to the wacky “Sheep Boys” Skittles commercial. And then we met the Berries and Cream Boy.

The Berries and Cream Boy starred in a commercial for Berries and Cream Starburst candy. In the commercial, he appears in a bus station wearing a Regency-era outfit and sporting a Lord Farquaadian haircut. He then starts doing his prancey dance and singing about how much he loves — you guessed it — berries and cream. That catchy tune could have faded into obscurity like so many other touchstones from the aughts, but now, that's impossible because it’s gone viral on TikTok.

If you scroll through your FYP long enough, chances are you’ll hear the “Berries and Cream” sound before too long. “Berries and cream, berries and cream, I’m a little lad who loves berries and cream,” the Berries and Cream Boy (played by actor Jack Ferver) sings. The sound is typically paired with videos of people who think their hairstyle, clothing, or activity makes them look especially old-fashioned and anachronistic — much like the Berries and Cream Boy himself.

If you’ve ever pulled your hair back into a low bun and suddenly felt like you belonged in another era, well, you now have a TikTok sound to pair with that phenomenon. It also works with sweatpants that have somehow become colonial breeches.

So far, the sound has been used in more than 27,000 TikTok videos. It was originally uploaded to the popular video-sharing app back in January of 2021 by TikTok user @hoopsmcelroy, who doesn’t appear to have accomplished anything else of note.

Just kidding! @hoopsmcelroy is none other than well-known podcaster Justin McElroy, whom you may recognize from shows such as My Brother, My Brother and Me; The Empty Bowl; Sawbones; Smart Stuff with Justin and Roman; and The Adventure Zone. (He is not to be confused with Justin McElroy, a reporter for CBC Vancouver.)

Justin initially uploaded the sound with a call-to-action for the people of TikTok. “Please make great art with this sound,” Justin requested. “It’s what we all need.” Apparently, though, it wasn’t what anyone needed — not for several months, anyway. The sound languished on the app until August of 2021, when it found its audience, and Justin became a veritable tastemaker. (Great job!)

Now, thanks to the folks of TikTok, you could spend literal days watching “Berries and Cream” content TikTok. We don’t really recommend it, though. Honestly, even a single video is enough to get the song (and dance) stuck in your head for a solid month or so. But hey, it’s your TikTok time.