Now that back-to-school season is (a little too quickly) approaching, college students are finally turning their dorm decor dreams into reality. But between packing, planning, and trying to turn a cement shoebox into a Pinterest-perfect space, emotions are running high. Of course, leave it to TikTok to make it somehow even worse. The latest culprit? The new “strawberry guy” trend, a hilarious and slightly tragic saga that started with a lighthearted couple’s shopping challenge but quickly spiraled into a full-blown debate about compromise, decor, and relationship dynamics. And if this happened to me while I was dorm shopping, I’d simply cry.
The trend started with a video from the account @ingridandrece0, featuring the couple trying a new trend on TikTok in which each person finds an item in a specific category, and they turn around to reveal their picks to each other. From there, they decide which pick is better. Cute in theory, right? Unfortunately, things took a different turn in the video. The man in the video kept choosing strawberry-themed items (whether as a joke or in earnest) but was consistently shot down in favor of more traditional decor. The comment section quickly filled up with calls for him to have a little more say.
“Let him PICK” one user wrote. Another commented, “let the poor man have his strawberry decor.” It’s pretty clear from the comments whose side TikTok is on. Since the video has blown up, a fair share of remakes have made their way onto everyone’s FYPs as well. One remake from user @eve_timm has even racked up 56 million views.
In more wholesome news, other people have hopped on the trend — the original decor challenge, not the “strawberry guy” remake — to test it out themselves. A video from @mariahandbill showed a couple house shopping and trying the trend. This time, the couple seemed to be more into the idea of compromising. One viewer commented, “this healed me from the strawberry guy.”
Even though the trend has focused on couples decorating together, it shows the stress that can come with having any type of roommate; whether it be in your college dorm, sorority house, or first post-grad apartment, co-decorating can make things tense and stressful.
The question is, does this trend make the stress better or worse? For one, it adds a game-like element to something that could be super stressful. But it’s also an argument waiting to happen. Not to mention there’s a chance that, if you win more than you lose, the TikTok comment section won’t be kind to you.