Meaning
What does Bubble Gum Pink mean?
Bubble Gum Pink refers to a range of vibrant pink colors, with the most popular variation’s hex code being #FF94A4.
Since 2021, however, the color has been the subject of TikTok comments, and discussions, referring to the genitalia of young girls and attractive women, appearing as “I know it’s Bubble Gum Pink”, “It’s definietly #FF94A4”, and many other forms.
These comments have been mostly endorsed by young male users of the video sharing platform, supposedly intended as a compliment. Despite this, however, the overtly sexual nature of these comments have led to an upheaval of discussions and calls for attention by female content creators, highlighting the offensive, awkward and harassing nature of “Bubble Gum Pink” comments.
The subject has been a matter for a lot of debate, and several online personalities have stood up against the phenomenon, publicly condemning the meme, which is leaning heavily toward online sexual harassment.
Origin
What's the origin of Bubble Gum Pink?
The “Bubble Gum Pink” phenomenon can be traced back as early as 2021, with countless comments having been written, alluding to the private parts of attractive content creators on TikTok.
One of the earliest TikTokkers, who expressed her disapproval of the trend was @whostayy, who featured a “I bet it’s pink” comment in one of her videos, calling it out as disturbing. Soon enough, other TikTok users began posting and condemning these comments, expressing how awkward they feel because of them.
The “Bubble Gum Pink” slowly developped into a trend, with many variations, including hex codes, and synonyms for the vibrant hues of pink, used in reference to female genitalia. “I bet it’s grippy” also turned up as a similar comment.
@whostayyliterally like huh wtf like it’s getting out of hand yall♬ Hayloft – Mother Mother
Spread & Usage
How did Bubble Gum Pink spread?
By mid-2021, TikToks condemning comments like “I bet it’s pink” and “Bubble Gum Pink” became widespread across the platform.
Parodies of the hex code trend, being used to men also began surfacing, with a notable example being the TikTok of @elijahxkins, who used it in reference to a photo of Jack Harlow on December 9th, 2021.
2022 continued to be rampant in “Bubble Gum Pink” comments on TikTok, with more and more female content creators responding to these.
By early 2023, discussions began appearing on Twitter, about how modern day “compliments” were more and more reminiscrent of sexual harassment. A notable tweet can be linked to @estrogennie, who shared it in January 2023, and amassed tens of thousands of likes within a short span of time.
In the same month, TikTok banned the search query of the phrase “I bet it’s pink”, so as to reduce the popularity of the trend.
However, one of the most significant development in the awareness campaign of the “Bubble Gum Pink” trend was a post by Reddit user u/snowyjabroni, shared on the r/offmychest sub on January 24th, 2023. In the post, the user explains, how the association of “Bubble Gum Pink” and female genitalia can be linked to pedophilia, due to the fact, that the more mature a woman is, the darker hue their privates turn. She also emphasized the importance of raising awareness on the subject, due to the fact, that many people likely embraced the trend, due to the fact, that it seemed like an innocent joke.
Despite this, “Bubble Gum Pink” comments still continue to haunt female TikTokkers, and the trend is still the subject of a heated debate online.
