How a viral moment brings attention to how delighted, thrilled, and not ready our culture is for Black female sexuality.

1. WORLD
WIDE
WAP
Cultural insights you’re overlooking and a masterclass marketing
by @eshaghbeigi
😛

2. 😛
Before we really dive into it, I want to kick this off by
acknowledging that in certain circles the contents of
this document are NSFW. I’m of the mindset that if
consumers people are talking about it, we
(marketing people) should be talking about it too.
So, warning! This deck contains subject matter some
professionals might find unsuitable for the
workplace. Viewer discretion is advised.
Bring a bucket and a mop,
this a Wild Ass Presentation.
@eshaghbeigi

3. 😛Billboard
Months into what’s been a whirlwind of an experience (it’s still a pandemic y’all), two rappers hopped a track, delivered
a blissfully raunchy anthem that revived a little bit of all of us. I’ve needed to talk about it for weeks and couldn't hold it
in any longer. So, I made a deck (This is my love language).

4. 😛
If Cardi B and Meg Thee Stallion are not on your radar,
let’s get them on your radar. They are two of the biggest
and baddest names in music, they’re influencers, self-
made brands, meme makers, social media marketers,
entrepreneurs and chart topping, record breaking artists.
They exist at the intersection of the Internet and culture
and have introduced a new wave of femininity to a
genre dominated by men. They’ve shined a new light
onto how we talk about Black people during the largest
civil rights movement in U.S history. They’re women’s
rights activists and advocates for female sexuality,
independence, and dominance. They’re forces to be
reckoned with and we have much to learn from them.
Cardi Meg
Spotify 49 M monthly listeners 42 M monthly listeners
Instagram 75 M followers 14 M followers

5. @eshaghbeigi 😛NBC News
Now from the top, here’s an oversimplified history of WAP’s ascent to glory. On August 3, we get a tease of a
collaboration. The people (me 👼) get excited. Mere days later, we are gifted with a surreal, satirical
masterpiece. Two days go by and a 28 year old choreographer creates a HIIT workout dance. Cardi sees it,
tweets it. Others see it. They recreate the dance on TikTok (and injure themselves). They play it for their parents
and film their reactions. Make a crazy amounts of content. For this and many other reasons, the song goes viral
and things get interesting.
August 3 August 7 August 9

6. @eshaghbeigi 📈
The song debuts at 93 million streams in
the U.S in its first week (the strongest
opening week numbers in history)
It hits #1on Billboard’s Hot 100 and
becomes the first female rap collaboration
in history to reach #1 on this chart
Same week it sells over
500,000 units (in a PANDEMIC)
It breaks the record for the biggest
first week for on demand audio on
Apple Music, by a female artist
It plays in the background of
3.3 million TikTok videos
AUGUST 7 SEPTEMBER 14AUGUST 13 AUGUST 21AUGUST 17

7. @eshaghbeigi 📈WAP Store
It even has its original merch.

8. 📈
So for a while, it’s all we can talk about. We play WAP on Spotify. We watch WAP on TikTok. We read about it
here, here and here. Turns out not everyone likes the song. Some people are actually appalled by it. Some
political officials make some brash, uninformed public comments. They find it crude and “really really vulgar.”
Regardless of what side of the argument you’re on, we’re deep in WAP.
@eshaghbeigiUproxx

9. 📈dictionary.com
So what’s a WAP? It’s a third wave feminist anthem,
a spectacle of sexual liberation, sex education, self-
expression, cultural strategy and an anthem for WOC. It’s
a story about what we care about in 2020 and brings
attention to the radicalized way our culture views Black
women, their confidence, sexuality, and agency.
Oh and there’s the official definition.

10. 😉
WE’VE STILL GOT SOME
RULES ABOUT WHO
GETS TO TALK ABOUT
SEX AND SEXUALITY.
The first thing that’s hard to ignore is that
@eshaghbeigi

11. @eshaghbeigi 😛
Sex is only controversial when women, especially women
of color, talk about it. All of these songs are about sex,
they’re explicit, they talk about women bodies, they’re
centred around sexual fantasies and that’s fine when
they’re authored by men. We play em at parties. We hear
em in movies. We even listen to some of em on the radio.

12. @eshaghbeigi 😛Youtube
Yet when two women sing, albeit, in an
objectively exxxplicit way about their own bodies
and desires, we (read: certain types of people)
freak out.
Ben Shapiro is wrong — this is a deeply important
piece of American art that we should pay
attention to it. It is deeply empowering. Women
have very few spaces to talk about their sexuality
and desires. This song is about two women
owning their sexuality and being vocal and
expressive about what they want.
If women are truly free to be independent human
beings, why can’t that include space to talk about
sex from their point of view?

13. @eshaghbeigi 😘The Cut
Here’s the thing with accepting how women talk about their
sexuality - it has its benefits. Those benefits are the same reason
why barstool’s Call Her Daddy, a podcast about sex and
relationships, rose in popularity and why a delay in episodes
made major headlines earlier this year. Women lack spaces
(both public AND private) to talk about sex. Internet media and
pop music grant them these spaces and at the very least give
them something to relate to.
I know some of y’all are going to make the argument that this
display of women’s sexuality is equally for the male gaze. Yes.
When you build a world around one perspective for most of
history, desire will be shaped by that perspective. The more we
talk about the varying degree of sexuality and sexual desires
the more we’ll come to accept there are different sexual
preferences and it’s cool and okay and allowed (as long as
there is consent!).We all have our thing so let your freak flag fly.

14. 😉
DON’T LEAVE IT TO
POP CULTURE TO
TEACH YOUR KIDS
ABOUT SEX.
What about all those young people and the TikToks? If this song truly bothers you because you worry about the children,

15. @eshaghbeigi 😛
Rather use its popularity as an opportunity to educate them on sex, sexuality, and other
related topics (if you’re not sure where to start here’s a handy link) and let me remind
you about these Pre-WAP BOPs we all love and adore.

16. @eshaghbeigi 😘Mashable
WAP is this generation’s feminist slogan. It’s a
reclamation of rights and a redefinition of ideas
about womanhood, gender, beauty, and
sexuality.
It’s why an army of teenage girls working as
ushers and defenders at an abortion clinic in
North Carolina used it to (of)fend off opposing
religious protesters who were reading Bible
passages to antagonize and intimidate patients
seeking reproductive care. By singing the lyrics
and viral-shaming the protesters online, they used
the song to protect women and their right to
reproductive care. WAP memes are protest tools.
They’re WAPons of defence.

17. 😉
DESIGNING FOR
CULTURE MEANS
DESIGNING FOR
MEMES.
@eshaghbeigi
I couldn’t stop thinking about how relevant the song had become, I realized

18. @eshaghbeigi 😛TikTok
From every perspective WAP was set up to succeed.
In the era of creator culture it’s marketing genius,
ready to be memefied. WAP is pure content candy,
no matter your niche. With a platform like TikTok,
content is easy to make and even easier to spread.
The song slaps. It’s a hyperbolic, lyrical masterpiece.
It’s catchy and raunchy. It’s a delight to listen to and
really fun to watch others experience for the first
time. Parents versus WAP could truly be its own
deck.
The WAP legacy still continues even a month after
the song’s release with people creating unexpected
but delightful mashups.

19. @eshaghbeigi 😛
Like, a lot of unexpected but delightful mashups.

20. @eshaghbeigi 😛TikTok
Like I said, it’s creator candy, even for Moms.

21. 😉
GOING VIRAL
DEMANDS AN
UNDERSTANDING OF
WHAT PEOPLE TALK
ABOUT.
The biggest hot tip:

22. @eshaghbeigi 😛
The song and music video were built to be discussed.
The lyrics. The cinematography. The casting. We already know
men will have an opinion on women talking about their own
bodies. We also know featuring a star studded cast with the
likes of Normani, Rosalía, Mulatto, Sukihana, and Rubi Rose is
going to get some attention. But mostly we know that any
mention of Kylie Jenner and people will talk (I’ve said it once,
I’ll say it again Kris Jenner deserves a Cannes Lion).
Feature Kylie Jenner
Twitter community does
not like it
Tweet storm
commences
Topic trends
More people find out
about the thing
People pay
attention it to

23. 😬
PEOPLE WOULD
RATHER PAY
ATTENTION TO A
HORNY RAP SONG
THAN WHAT’S
CURRENTLY
HAPPENING TO
BLACK PEOPLE

24. @eshaghbeigiGuardian
Deaths from Covid-19 were/are disproportionately
higher among communities of color. Medical bias
against Black people is shaping Covid-19 treatment
and care.
We needed a constant stream of Black murders to
pay attention to Black issues. It took the deaths of
Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breoana Taylor and
the recent shooting of Jacob Blake to shine a light on
issues that have existed in America since it was
founded. Yet we’re more invested in judging and
regulating what is and isn’t respectable Black female
expression. Like all the issues Black people in
America are facing right now, this song was louder
in social discourses than racial inequality, systematic
racism and the criminal justice system.

25. ✨@eshaghbeigi

26. ✨@eshaghbeigi
Cardi B and Meg Thee Stallion have single handedly done more to invest in
young women of color than many official leaders who populate our timelines.
In partnership with Cash App the pair donated $500 to 2000 women. So they
quite literally empowered young American women.
You see, no matter what way I look at it, WAP is political. Look at who is critical
of it and who has celebrated it. A song like WAP could not be more necessary
in these weird, lonely, unprecedented times. It’s exactly what women like me —
women of color — need, a reminder that they are strong, powerful and can
navigate the world on their own terms.
So yes, this is an important moment and it deserves a deck. WAP is rich with
cultural insights and understanding how to be a part of culture and
conversation. Diminishing or dismissing this cultural moment is sexist, racist and
kind of embarrassing actually.
Rolling Stone

27. 😛
How can my brand mirror the WAP effect?
•Make space for women’s voices and women’s sexuality
(if it makes sense for your brand)
•Don’t be dismissive of trends and topics that
make you uncomfortable
•Recognize that every viral moment is a cultural insight
•Consider that if you make it, they will meme it,
memes mean relevance, relevance means attention
(for your cause or your brand)
•Know that your audience is probably horny and in dire
need of a laugh
• Invest in women of color

28. ✨
Love this insight ✨

29. WEAR
A MASK,
PLEASE❤
@eshaghbeigiTweet me