Content creator Macoy Dubs took a jab at a social media personality’s controversial back-to-work comments with a viral video that featured German teens.
Macoy on January 5 shared a famous TikTok clip of Jonas interviewing two German teens in high energy.
The clip became so popular before that it also reached Twitter, where it further gained viral status.
BuzzFeed News reported that the video initially went viral in 2020, a month before the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.
The report identified the blonde interviewer as Jonas, a teenager who asked girls how many ex-boyfriends they had.
“The TikTok video was shared widely on Twitter this week, enthralling non–German speakers all over the internet,” it said.
“Despite the language barrier, people couldn’t get enough of these kids. A lot of people were LIVING for the energy of literally everyone in this video — especially the absolutely iconic blonde kid, Jonas, who conducts three interviews and references another famous TikTok video in a 25-second clip,” the report added.
Macoy reshared the video on his social media accounts with the caption, “Ratatatatataaaaah”
The content creator also included in-line texts that served as subtitles to make it seem as if they were saying such dialogues, which he created. It goes like this:
“Sad ba you kasi back to work na sis?” the interviewer asks.
“Marse, oo noh, I’m not feeling lucky, sh*t!” the girl responds.
“Oh my god!” Jonas exclaims in the video with a gesture of his hands.
He went on to interview another girl.
“Honey, ilang oras kayo nag-lunch out ng officemates mo?” his dialogue reads.
“Mga 2 hours tapos gumala pa kami sa Greenbelt,” the girl says.
“Oh my god! Ratatata!” Jonas exclaims.
The scene then cuts to another girl being interviewed.
“Sis, ilang e-mails sinend mo today???” Jonas’ companion asks her.
“Wala, nag-‘mark as read’ lang ako,” she answers.
“Oh my god!!!” Jonas exclaims while looking at the camera.
The video on Macoy’s page has earned 3,400 pure laughing reactions and 71,000 views so far.
It also amused Filipinos, who gave the following comments:
“The shades, ahahhaha,” a Facebook user wrote.
“Hala ka, Macoy Dubs!!!” another Pinoy commented with a clinking glasses emoji.
“HOOOOOOAAAAYYY,” a user from Instagram exclaimed.
The first line references vlogger-singer Donnalyn Bartolome‘s comment, which questioned some Filipinos’ feelings about returning to work after the Holidays.
The vlogger on January 3 shared a Facebook status labeled as “feeling lucky” and then wrote:
“Bakit may sad dahil back to work na? [‘Di ba] dapat masaya ka kasi may chance ka na pagandahin buhay mo at ng pamilya? Trip ko pa nga may work ng January 1 dahil superstition ko may work ako buong taon ‘pag [gano’n].”
“Dapat grateful kasi may work. If work makes you unhappy, I hope you find a job that will. ‘Yung pakikiligin ka and sheet (face holding back tears emoji). Anyway, this is just a reminder that having a job is a blessing, bessss. Change mindset, it’s 2023!! (white heart emoji)”
Several Filipinos have since expressed disagreement with her thoughts, with some sharing workers’ plights like dealing with heavy traffic and being underpaid amid rising inflation.
Those disagreeing with her include a page administrator of a movie channel and a psychologist.
READ: ‘Medyo nakaka-invalidate’: Reactions to Donnalyn Bartolome’s back-to-work comments
Labor lawyer Luke Espiritu was also among those who aired his thoughts about the matter.
He said that many Filipinos work in conditions that make it difficult for them to just be grateful for having a job.
“For unionists, labor organizers and those struggling with work, [‘just be grateful’ is] what the capitalists usually reply when workers air their issues with their jobs,” Espiritu wrote on Facebook on January 8.
“For the capitalists, workers should be happy to have a job instead of having living wages across the Philippines, having regular employment without contractualization, and instead of forming unions to push for their democratic rights in the workplace,” he added.
Donnalyn has since explained her controversial post, saying that her feelings of positivity “came from experience” and not from privilege.
“Sa lahat ng nasaktan, gusto ko malaman mo pinagdaanan ko din mga sinasabi niyo. God knows. Nag-collect ako ng pictures. Dumating ako sa point na lumuluhod ako, nagmamakaawa kay God para may makain the next day, pangbayad sa tuition.. sa bahay, bills,” she wrote on Facebook before.
“I admitted mali ang choice of words ko. And I’m only sharing these experiences in hopes to show [the] sincerity of me admitting that error and not just to save face, kasi like all of you, may pinagdaanan din ako, so last thing I’d want to do is hurt any of you,” the vlogger added.
She accompanied her post with some old pictures, each bearing paragraph-long captions where she shared the story about her work experiences.