The sound of the summer is actually not a song — it’s an ad.
“Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday,” a catchphrase from the British airline’s 2024 ad, mixed with English singer Jess Glynne’s 2015 hit “Hold My Hand,” has been used by more than 1.2 million users on TikTok, where it’s become a viral hit in recent months. Searches for Jet2 holiday have also spiked in the last month, according to Google trends.
The original Jet2 ad, which first appeared on the company’s YouTube page last year, shows a family of four as they catch a Jet2 plane to their beachside summer vacation.
Now, audio from the ad is being used more ironically in videos from users who juxtapose the soundbite with footage of chaotic holiday experiences. From catastrophic weather at picture-perfect resorts to passengers misbehaving on flights, the videos often document travel-related setbacks.
No one was more surprised by the popularity of the ad than British actor Zoë Lister, the voice behind the viral audio. She recorded the ad about 18 months ago.
“Somebody sent me a video yesterday of Joe Jonas using the sound,” she told NBC News in a recent video interview. “I was like, ‘Oh, that’s massive!’”
Lister, who introduced herself as the actor behind the audio in a recent TikTok video, said it’s been especially interesting to see the soundbite pick up in the United States, where Americans use the word “vacation” rather than “holiday.”
“They don’t even know what Jet2 holiday is,” she joked. “They don’t have holidays, they have vacations. Holidays are like Christmas, right? But they have got so on board with the joyful silliness of it.”
“Going viral for something just that is really funny and joyful … that’s quite a wonderful experience,” Lister added.
One of the first videos to use the audio and garner millions of views was from a user who uploaded footage of what appears to be a camel attacking the person, according to meme database KnowYourMeme. Since being posted on TikTok in November 2024, the video has amassed 3.8 million views.
Jet2 picked up on the popularity of the audio in the spring, posting a video on TikTok offering a giveaway for people who uploaded videos partaking in the trend. The travel company is known in the United Kingdom for offering low-cost vacations for British travelers, and providing charter flights to popular holiday destinations around the world, mostly in Europe.
As for Glynne, Lister said the pop star also “did not ask for any of this” fame. The singer’s “Darling, hold my hand” line from her song is now associated with the Jet2 phrase.
The two met during a Capital FM radio appearance in London on Tuesday, which Lister described as a “wild” moment in her life.
She’s “a super cool mega pop star and I’m this like cheeseball,” Lister said.
Lister, a mother of two, said she’s trying to figure out how to navigate the newfound fame. She was a familiar face to many in the U.K.: From 2006-2017, she played Zoe Carpenter in the popular teen soap opera “Hollyoaks,” which aired on Channel 4.
But the virality has boosted her profile more, especially after she posted the TikTok video.
“What started happening this last week, which has been really bizarre, is when I’ve been on a train or in a cafe and I can hear people watching [the meme],” she said. “And, last Friday I was out with my husband, because we were celebrating our anniversary. And the girls on the next table were literally recording their own ‘nothing beat the Jet2 holiday’ into their phone.”
Her husband then asked the group recording the video if they would want to meet the “the woman that does the voice.”
“It was actually such a brilliant, fun, joyful moment,” Lister said. “And everyone was like excited. And we have photos. It was really fun.”
She’s hoping the virality will help her expand her horizons professionally.
“I’ve been planning a podcast for a while and I’m happy that now I’ve got more of a platform in which to launch something like that,” she said. “I’ve got lots of things that I’d like to do creatively and I hope that this sort of infamy will help launch things.”
