In emotional ads running on Facebook and Instagram for the past month, the young woman Katie talks about being diagnosed with a disease that causes kidney damage at the age of 19.
Thanks to that stranger's kidney, she continued, she was here today. “For some people, having a tiktok has literally saved lives,” the company wrote in the caption, separated by tearful smile emojis.
The message is part of a new ad blitz from Tiktok, a popular social media app owned by China's internet giants. The campaign frames Tiktok as the American savior and small business champion, as the app sells Americans to non-Chinese owners towards the April 5 deadline or faces a ban in the US. President Trump has suspended federal laws requiring the sale of Tiktocks due to national security concerns related to its ties with China, but said it would give the app more time to trade if necessary.
However, it appears that Tiktok hasn't taken a chance.
Over the past few months, the company has made Washington a wallpaper for marketing. I bought wraparound ads in the New York Post, Wall Street Journal and the New York Times print edition. And they poured money into national commercials. (Continuing the theme of lifesaving, Tiktok's ads also feature creators who sell products that help manage CPR.)
Tiktok is in a hurry to get himself right after the Supreme Court in January upheld a unanimous law that effectively bans apps. According to estimates from media tracking company Adimpact, Tiktok, who spent about $5 million on commercial ads in March last year when Congress first discussed the ban in February and March, has already spent more than $7 million in the same months this year.
Lindsay Gorman, managing director of the German Marshall Fund's technology program and technology advisor under the Biden administration, said: She added, “This move to “save Tiktok” did not leave in 11 hours of these negotiations.”
Tiktok declined to comment.
Outside of advertising, the company is primarily acting as normal as it is business. Since February, Tiktok has assured creators that they believe it has a future in the United States, primarily for the Trump administration, several creators said.
“It's a total of 180,” said H. Lee Justin, creator and author of Tiktok. “I went back in January and if I was on the app, I would have heard about the ban every day. It's not even on my page now. No one is chatting about it.”
Justin was one of the creators who took part in a briefing call with Tiktok executives in February. This included Tiktok executives, including Michael Beckerman, the head of public policy for the Americas.
“They really, really hopeful,” Justin said.
Ad spending on the platform appears to have recovered this month. Many major brands suspended marketing on their platforms prior to the January ban and did not return to February in February at all. The law requires App Stores like Apple and Google to remove Tiktoks, and those companies didn't recover until mid-February. Previously in March, Mikmak has returned to the same level of ad traffic from Tiktok as in the fourth quarter.
“There really isn't a channel that does everything Tiktok does, and they'll do that until they say brands can't spend the dollars there,” said Rachel Tipograph, CEO of Mikmak.
The company also plans to appear in industry events in the coming months, including a prominent gathering for New York advertisers and planning projects with American creators over April 5th.
Tiktok was listed as a partner at the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival in southern France in June. The company flew its CEO, Shauchue, and US-based Tiktok star, like Alixar, to Tiktok star last year. It will be announced in May at NewFronts, an annual event hosted by an interactive advertising bureau for advertisers at New York digital media companies. The presentation is sandwiched between streaming service Tubi and technology company Yahoo's.
“At the end of Tiktok, I've returned to business as usual,” said Daniel Ducks, chief executive of Palette Media, an agency representing more than 230 social media stars. “They continue to plan through projects that reach far beyond the theoretical ban date.”
Tiktok and Bytedance have long maintained that app sales are not possible as they are part of being blocked by the Chinese government. Despite the looming deadline for Trump's contract and chatter about a potential suitor, Tiktok has not said whether the position has changed.
Last week, a top aide at Capitol Hill met with Oracle, a high-tech company that continues to maintain its name as a potential suitor for Tiktok. Lawmakers who defended the law banned when Tiktok is not on sale recently expressed concern that Tiktok and Baitedan may attempt to attack deals with the Trump administration, which maintain China's influence on the app and its algorithms.
In a way, Tiktok's ad blitz is another attempt from the company to ease concerns from lawmakers, Gorman said.
“Titktok is essentially trying to re-litigate the law and encourage Congress to support calls to implement it.”
Desiree Hill, a 39-year-old mechanic from Georgia, appeared in a Tiktok ad, but said he believes the highlight of the small business owner is intended to reach policy makers. “It's a massive economy booster. You've taken it and the businesses are suffering,” she added.
But she is also more concerned about Tiktok's future than she was at the beginning of January.
“They showed us they could reduce access, so I feel it's more of a threat than it is now,” she said.
