Vaseline’s lesson in how to go viral: go smutty

“Slugging” is a TikTok skincare trend that involves smearing your face in petroleum jelly overnight, so it makes sense for Vaseline to jump onto its viral moment with a tweet sharing its own take on the trend.

But it’s the execution that has caused an internet uproar – especially when “slugging” has a double meaning that is not fit to print on MAA. Did Vaseline really need to choose ring donuts to illustrate a point about lubrication?

The reference, intended or not, has produced plenty of reaction across the internet. Vaseline’s response? “Y’all, we were talking about skincare. Thanks for making this weird.”

Perhaps the Unilever-owned brand’s worse offense, however, is that its references to the slugging trend (the skincare version) is apparently a year out of date.