In 2007, Starburst released what has since been described as a “cursed” commercial. Promoting its berries and cream flavor, Starburst enlisted the help of a character dubbed the Berries and Cream Boy.
Visibly hailing from 1600s England, the character, played by performer Jack Ferver, approached two people at a bus station, enquiring about the flavor of the Starburst they are eating. After being informed of the flavor, he immediately began to dance to the tune of his own song, about berries and creams.
“Berries and cream, berries and cream, I’m a little lad who likes berries and cream,” he sang while jumping side to side and clapping—otherwise known as the “Little Lad Dance.”
The commercial gained huge attention and popularity at the time and Starburst even made a follow-up tutorial on the dance. Without any mention of the actual product, the Berries and Cream Boy provided a step-by-step instruction on how to do the dance, along with an anecdote about his mother giving him berries and cream.
Jack Ferver is a New York-based writer, choreographer and director, who despite not listing the work on their website, seems to be warming to their reborn fame. Two days ago, September 4, Ferver set up a TikTok account, Berries and Cream costume and all, named @thereallittlelad, where they’ve shared multiple videos in character.
“Hello TikTok, are you ready for berries and cream?” they asked the camera, with the instantly recognizable fake English accent, of course. In a surprising next step, Ferver appeared in a video with Catfish: The TV Show host Nev Schulman, doing the “Little Lad Dance.”
Fourteen years on from the original and the song is now providing comedic relief once more, but for very different reasons. Now, the song is used as an audio on TikTok, with users employing the song any time they feel something they’re wearing, doing or saying feels particularly old-fashioned.
At the time of publication, the app’s most popular audio of the song has used in over 36,000 videos and is actually taken from the step-by-step tutorial. The first video showed the dance, with added text reading: “Please make great art with this sound, it’s what we all need.”
And that’s exactly what TikTok users have done.
One user gained just under a million likes using the song, filming herself dancing in her Disneyworld Fantasyland uniform, which heavily resembles that of the Berries and Cream Boy’s outfit.
Others have taken a different approach, doing simple tasks including making hot chocolate on a stove or wearing your hair in a low bun.
This trend isn’t the first time TikTok users have used a historical figure, of sorts, from time gone with modern situations. In May, the Versailles Run filter grew in popularity on the app, as users paired their faces with the cartoon body of a running Marie Antoinette, hilariously adding their own context as to why they were running.
Newsweek has contacted Jack Ferver and Starburst for comment.
Update 9/06/21, 3:32 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include new information on Jack Ferver’s TikTok account.