Pinkcore

About

Pinkcore and its coinciding hashtag #pinkcore refers to a "-core" video genre prevalent on TikTok that consists of memetic edits that predominantly include stylized gameplay footage from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) and Fortnite, among other video games. Pinkcore videos were started by TikToker @.pinkcoree in early 2022, trending alongside Corecore, NicheTok, Hood Irony and 30core on the platform. Pinkcore videos continued into 2023, echoed by other video editors and meme creators such as TikToker bludlung (@bludlung).

Origin

"Pinkcore" (and its coinciding hashtag #pinkcore^[7]) was coined by TikToker^[1] @.pinkcoree on January 16th, 2022, with a video that included Fortnite footage and a since-deleted sound. The video gained roughly 233,200 plays and 40,600 likes in one year, however, it is non-embeddable due to its sound being removed by TikTok. TikToker^[2] @.pinkcoree posted another video with "#pinkcore" in its description on January 20th, however, its sound has also since been removed by TikTok.

On January 21st, 2022, TikToker^[3] @.pinkcoree posted another "#pinkcore" video which received roughly 64,700 plays and 9,400 likes in one year. It included Roblox footage with an avatar wearing Vlone. Its sound was not removed by TikTok, allowing it to be embedded (shown below).

Spread

TikToker @.pinkcoree's videos and their video genre dubbed Pinkcore started to trend even more going into late 2022, coinciding with the virality of Corecore on the app. In turn, many TikTokers started to use both "#pinkcore" and "#corecore" in their video captions. For instance, on July 28th, 2023, a new Pinkcore creator, TikToker^[4] @1pinkcoree, posted their first video, gaining roughly 68,800 plays and 12,300 likes in one year (shown below, left). On December 21st, 2022, TikToker^[5] @irish.sc posted a Pinkcore video using Overwatch footage, receiving roughly 2.2 million plays and 307,800 likes in seven months (shown below, right).

Going into early 2023, Pinkcore videos became increasingly commonplace and viral on TikTok. For instance, the most-viewed video a part of the "#pinkcore" tag was uploaded on January 18th, 2023, by TikToker^[6] @verysillycats69 and received roughly 8.2 million plays and 2.3 million likes in six months (shown below).

By late July 2023, the #pinkcore tag on TikTok^[7] had amassed over 648.2 million plays.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References