One of the strangest headlines I’ve ever written.
Thanks to the rise of TikTok over the past decade, we’ve seen some classic, sometimes forgotten country songs go viral. Whether it’s Keith Whitley’s “Miami, My Amy” going mega viral back in 2022, Mel McDaniel’s “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On” recently experiencing some newfound popularity and David Allan Coe’s “If This Is Just a Game” receiving a lot of love prior to his death earlier in the year, there have been plenty of lesser-known songs that have, for some reason or another, appealed to the TikTok crowd.
Of course, this fails to mention newer tracks that spawned trends for some of the buzziest artists in the genre today, such as Ella Langley and Riley Green’s “you look like you love me,” Kaitlin Butts’ “You Ain’t Gotta Die (To Be Dead To Me),” Sam Barber and Avery Anna’s “Indigo” and Whiskey Myers’ “Broken Window Serenade,” which recently entered the Top 20 on Spotify a staggering 15 years after its release thanks to the continued virality of the track on the platform.
With that being said, one of the biggest country songs throughout TikTok’s lifespan has been none other than Brooks & Dunn’s 1992 megahit, “Neon Moon.”
Originally, the song went viral back in the fall of 2021 when users began posting a dance routine with an admittedly strange, trap remix of the song playing in the background. The trend got so popular over the following months that Kix and Ronnie themselves took to social media to post themselves doing the viral routine — even though Kix was not having it at first.
@brooksanddunn It’s crazy cool to see all your videos, keep ‘em coming ! #brooksanddunn #sungoesdown #neonmoon #neonmoonremix #countrymusic ♬ Neon Moon – DJ Noiz
Over the past year or so, “Neon Moon” has spawned an entirely different trend. Instead of a dance routine to accompany the song, users began posting videos of the iconic “I spend most every night beneath the light of a neon moon” line to pretty much anything and everything that has a neon sign. Of course, these included everywhere from Chili’s, Taco Bell and Texas Roadhouse to Buc-ee’s and even the strip club from Grand Theft Auto V, Vanilla Unicorn (which seems to be a favorite amongst TikTok users…)
@jalent0225 Bottomless Chips and Salsa @Chili’s Grill & Bar #fyp #chilisbarandgrill #blowthisup #neonmoon ♬ original sound – ;)
Following in the footsteps of the aforementioned videos, the official White House account posted its own version of the “Neon Moon” trend, and it is truly bizarre to say the least.
Being set in what looks to be an AI-generated world from the popular video game, Minecraft, Puss in Boots from the Shrek films walks towards the White House with a giant, light-up American flag (which has 11 stripes and well over 60 stars by the way…) hovering over it.
If you think I’m making any of this up, take a look yourself.
@whitehouseOur kinda neon moon
Obviously, it’s playing off the trend, but I have so many questions. One, why is it set in an AI-generated Minecraft world? Two, why Puss in Boots? Third (and most importantly), who thought this was a good idea to post?
Beyond the typical partisan fighting that is found in nearly every video the Trump admin or White House posts, many comments seemed just as confused, wondering why the hell Puss in Boots is featured and criticizing the account for posting more AI slop.
“Genuinely wtf is this I’m so embarrassed”
“White House making AI videos now“
“This is so embarrassing”
“AI slop instead of doing anything better“
“Leave my Brooks & Dunn alone“
“WTFdoes this even mean”
“We aren’t a serious country”
“Ok I’m maga but wtf even is this video”
“What a f***ing timeline”
“Imagine having an entire communications team and THIS is what made it through”
Of course, the Trump admin, DHS and the White House itself has gotten plenty of criticism over the past two years for their posts on social media, with Noah Kahan, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and more blasting the president and admin for using their songs without permission. Theo Von even publicly denounced the DHS’s use of an audio clip of him on a video promoting mass deportations.
While I don’t exactly see Brooks and Dunn denouncing this particular use, it just feels like the most bizarre and ultimately most confusing out of all of the strange posts that have been made recently. It also seems super easy to find an actual neon American flag somewhere and captures the sentiment in a way that makes actual sense.
