What happens when an orange decides it no longer wants to be called an orange?
Apparently, brands, businesses and social media pages across the Philippines start playing along.
A joke that began in a TikTok comedy skit has grown into a full-blown online phenomenon, with companies renaming products, tweaking popular titles, and even reimagining their own brand names to join the fun.
Among those that jumped in on the trend is Netflix Philippines, which recently put its own spin on the trend by replacing references to oranges with “Sharmaine” in a social media post.
The streaming platform reworked the title of the hit K-drama “When Life Gives You Tangerines” into “When Life Gives You Sharmaines” and jokingly transformed “Orange Is the New Black” into “Sharmaine Is the New Black.”
“Waiting mapa-notaryo para final na. Pinalitan ko na dito oh,” Netflix captioned its post.
Supermarkets have also embraced the meme. Photos shared online show oranges being relabeled as “Sharmaine” and avocados as “Melanie” in fruit sections. Among those joining the trend is SM City Legazpi, which playfully adopted the names as if the fictional rebranding had already been made official.
“Fruit section meeting agenda:
1. Sharmaine’s notarization.
2. Melanie’s application.
3. Mango’s identity crisis,” the supermarket wrote.
Restaurant chain TGI Friday’s also joined the trend, sharing a photo of its Old Fashioned drink topped with orange peel.
“Orange?
No, that’s Sharmaine.
And she’s making our Old Fashioned look extra good today,” the caption read.
An Old Fashioned drink is made with bourbon, cherry, orange slice and a dash of aromatic bitters.
Dessert chain Avocadoria joined the conversation by welcoming its patrons to “Melanieria” on social media through a reel, a nod to another character that emerged from the viral skits.
“Abogado. Avocado. Melanie. or should I say Melanieria? siyang tunay ba nak, @baet_ekoeko?” tagging Baet, the content creator behind the name trend.
Prior to this, the dessert chain reposted Baet’s video containing the origin of “Melanie” name.
“Ano nga namang problema sa Avocado, Sharmaine?” it wrote.
The various posts have since turned “Sharmaine,” “Vanessa” and “Melanie” into some of the most recognizable names currently circulating on Filipino social media, even though none of them refer to actual people.
How the names started
The trend traces its roots to content creator Baet, whose videos often imagine conversations between everyday objects, animals, fruits and insects. He has so far garnered 682,000 followers on Facebook and 5,646 on Instagram and 366,100 on TikTok.
In the skit that launched the phenomenon late May, an orange questions why it was given a name that simply describes its color. During the conversation, the fruit is asked what it would rather be called and unexpectedly responds with the name “Sharmaine.”
“Naiinis naman ako ‘te kasi parang ‘di naman ako pinag-isipan. O ‘di ba ikaw ang pangalan mo ay mango, pero dilaw ka naman. Parang obvious naman kasi sa’kin te, orange, wala na bang ibang pangalan? Kaloka naman,” the orange character said.
Another character quipped that the “Sharmaine” name must be notarized, giving birth to “ipa-notaryo na” viral lines.
context of Sharmaine and Vanessa HAHAHAHAHAHAHA https://t.co/ihXrjK8bDH pic.twitter.com/DuNTSMamvM
— 𝕤♡𝕟𝕖_𝕜𝕪 (@143kimyoung_ss) May 31, 2026
The original video was posted on TikTok in April, so far garnering 6.8 million views.
@eko06004 Gawan yan ng paraan #fyp ♬ original sound – BAET
The skit caught the attention of viewers and spread across social media, where online users began referring to oranges as “Sharmaine” in comments, memes and posts.
sharmaine ng mga millennial pic.twitter.com/B2GlIxFQk3
— FTTM (@fttm_ph) June 1, 2026
The joke did not stop there.
In a later video, a fly expresses a similar frustration with its own name and suggests “Vanessa” as a more fitting alternative.
Another installment introduces an avocado character that finds itself in a discussion about changing names and eventually reveals that it would prefer to be called “Melanie.”
@eko06004 Ay hindi naman magandang biro yan! #fyp ♬ original sound – BAET
As more characters were added, the fictional universe expanded, giving audiences new names and references to incorporate into the growing trend.
—With Rosette Adel