Nothing beats a Jet2Holiday … until it does. The now-iconic “Nothing beats a Jet2Holiday” campaign offers a lesson in twenty-first-century branding: your slogan can go viral, and take on a completely new meaning, overnight. As a trademark attorney, I explore why this is challenging to enforce, and how businesses can safeguard their marks while navigating the unpredictable world of meme culture.
The Jingle That Wouldn’t Quit
If you’ve been anywhere near the internet lately, you’ve probably heard it:
“Nothing beats a Jet2Holiday!”
The bright, catchy jingle that was supposed to sell package vacations for the British travel company Jet2 Holidays has become the internet’s favorite way to soundtrack chaos of missed flights, broken suitcases, disastrous hotel stays or just anything unpleasant. Millions have used the sound ironically, pairing the cheerful tune with clips that show the opposite of what their marketing team envisioned. What happens when your brand gets co-opted by pop-culture and the carefully crafted vision you’ve created gets flipped upside down?
Genericness vs. Nothing beats a Jet2holiday Meme
Sometimes the use of your trademark is enforceable and you really should police it. Use of brand names overtime can lead to a pesky little legal issue called “genericide”. This is a legal process where a trademark becomes so common that it stops identifying the source of a product. It’s the death of distinctiveness, and, legally, the death of the mark. Classic examples include:
- Aspirin – once Bayer’s brand, now the generic word for the drug.
- Escalator – once a brand of moving staircase from Otis Elevator Co.
- Thermos, Yo-Yo, Cellophane – all once trademarks, now household words.
The test for genericness is simple: Would the average consumer understand the word as a brand name or as the common name for the product? If it’s the latter, the trademark no longer functions as a source identifier. Now, let’s look at Jet2 Holidays, or even Spam, the canned meat that became shorthand for unwanted email. People still know who Jet2 is, and they still recognize Spam as a food product. Their names haven’t become the generic term for travel packages or canned goods. So, legally speaking, neither brand has suffered “genericide.”
In order to qualify as a trademark, a brand name needs to be distinct enough. To learn more about whether your brand name qualifies as a trademark, read our article Is Your Brand Name Too Weak?
What’s Really Happening: Pop-Culture Co-Option
What’s going on with Nothing beats a Jet2holiday instead is something softer – a brand, slogan, or jingle gets repurposed by the public in a way that’s outside the company’s control. It doesn’t lose its distinctiveness; it just gains new, often ironic meaning. Other examples include:
- Spam® – adopted by the internet to describe junk email after a Monty Python sketch mocked repetition.
- Ginsu® – became shorthand for exaggerated infomercial sales pitches (“But wait, there’s more!”).
- Dollynho – the mascot of a Brazilian soda brand turned into a meme symbolizing awkward marketing nostalgia.
- #McDStories – a McDonald’s campaign that invited customer stories… only to go viral with horror stories instead.
These cases don’t threaten the legal protection of the trademark, but they do reshape how the public perceives it. The law still sees a trademark; culture sees a punchline.
To learn about another viral social media sensation, read our fact check on why Sierra Mist changed it’s name.
The Trademark Lawyer’s Take
From a legal standpoint, there’s very little Jet2 can do about the Nothing beats a Jet2holiday meme. Once a slogan enters viral circulation, it’s almost impossible to “un-meme” it. Legally speak, that’s because memes are commentary, which is transformative by nature, and usually protected under free-speech and “fair use”. Unless a meme falsely implies endorsement or damages reputation through defamation, there’s rarely a viable claim. Still, the brand faces a dilemma: Embrace the moment and ride the wave of exposure, or risk looking humorless and out of touch by trying to shut it down? Either way, the phenomenon highlights a truth modern brands can’t ignore: once your marketing enters the cultural bloodstream, it doesn’t belong entirely to you anymore.
Why Nothing beats a Jet2holiday Isn’t Genericide — Yet
It’s important not to conflate memetic virality with loss of distinctiveness. Jet2’s slogan hasn’t become the term for all vacation packages. Spam isn’t what people call all canned meat. Even “Google it”, though often cited as a risk case, still points unmistakably to the Google brand.
The difference lies in consumer perception:
- In genericide, the public forgets the brand’s origin.
- In co-option, the public remembers it, but twists it for humor, irony, or commentary.
Put simply: being a meme isn’t the same as being a dictionary entry.
The Strategic Takeaway for Brand Owners
So what can a brand actually do when it gets swept up by culture?
- Monitor the narrative. Track how your brand name, slogan, and sound clips appear on TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, and YouTube.
- Decide quickly whether to engage. If the tone is good-natured, join the conversation. If it’s harmful or misleading, issue clarification — not condemnation.
- Maintain legal hygiene. Keep your trademark registration active, use the ® symbol, and ensure correct use internally.
- Don’t over-react. Over-enforcement can turn a meme into a scandal.
- Educate your team. Marketing and legal should work together to identify cultural moments before they spiral.
If you want to learn more about the Trademark Registration Process, check out this guide on our trademark law blog, or our Trademark F.A.Q.s.
A Note for Global Brands
For companies expanding into the U.S., or away from the U.S., this is more than a curiosity. It’s a practical risk of cross-cultural marketing. Once you cross into a new culture or second language, s phrase that sounds warm and aspirational in one language may sound meme-ready or ironic in another. That’s why, before launching in a new market, it’s wise to:
- Vet taglines for unintended meanings.
- Secure U.S. trademark registration early.
- Monitor social-media chatter in real time.
At Stemer Law, we help international businesses protect their trademarks across jurisdictions, not just through filings, but through ongoing monitoring and brand-management strategy.
Conclusion: When Culture Plays With Your Trademark
“Nothing beats a Jet2 Holiday” started as a simple sales jingle. It became a viral in-joke, a pop-culture phenomenon, and a reminder that in the digital age, brand meaning is crowd-sourced.
The good news? Jet2’s mark is safe.
The bad news? Its message may never mean quite the same thing again.
For trademark owners, that’s the new frontier, protecting not only your registration, but your reputation in a world where culture writes half the story.
Stemer Law (Stemer, P.A.) is a Denver trademark law firm serving clients across the U.S. and abroad. With 1,000+ trademarks filed, we make brand protection simple, affordable, and effective. To speak with a trademark attorney contact us at hello@stemerlaw.com or (303) 928-1094
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