A mass unfollow TikTok rally to “leave Vexbolts in 2024” is currently taking place – and it highlights the power of online audience activation.

Approximately seven million additional followers have flocked to the Vexbolts account, allowing them to unfollow him together at midnight and in early 2025.

The event won’t officially begin until midnight on the US East Coast, but already around two million people have stopped watching Vexbolts as the new year begins around the globe.

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Vexbolts is an online content creator who rose to fame when his clip from the game Fortnite went viral and the 19-year-old declared: “Let him cook!”

Vexbolts continues to produce viral online content and has around 1.5 million followers on TikTok since joining the platform in 2021.

However, over the past week, his follower count has increased exponentially as a campaign has been launched to leave him in 2024.

So is this all just some kind of PR stunt? Yes.

The creator economy is big business and is driven by reach and engagement. This campaign intentionally juxtaposes the two to make Vexbolts more than just the guy who once said, “Let him cook.”

At the moment, Vexbolts is in the realm of hypervirality, with giant companies, esports codes and other brands all jumping on the bandwagon.

Online megastar MrBeast was also featured in some of the latest videos, conveniently having some of his own snack products on the bench and in full view of the tens of millions of viewers watching those videos.

Advertisers dream of having a captive audience that is so actively engaged with the content.

So whether or not Vexbolts loses most or all of its followers is kind of irrelevant – the real takeaway, I think, is that you can’t underestimate how powerful these mass online activations can be and how they can impact advertisers and companies around the world Targeting younger target groups is something we should take note of as we head into the new year.