2024 Federal Zyn Crackdown / Zynsurrection

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Part of a series on Zyn. [View Related Entries]

Overview

The 2024 Federal Zyn Crackdown 2024 refers to a proposal by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to regulate the sale and advertising of Zyn, an increasingly popular nicotine pouch product known for its virality on TikTok among Gen Z. Following the announcement and press coverage in late January 2024, fans of Zyn responded to Senator Schumer's call to regulate Zyns with memes and posts promising resistance to any such effort, some going so far as to call for a Zynsurrection, a reference to other Zyn-related slang and nicknames.

Background

Zyn, a pouch product similar to snus containing nicotine salts, saw an increase in use tied to viral promotion on social media by figures such as Tucker Carlson and TikTok user freezertarps, whose "Zynbabwe" system of slang saw widespread use online in 2023 and early 2024.^[11] This coverage led to increased scrutiny in the media, including a front-page New York Times researched opinion editorial on January 12th, 2024, discussing the viral marketing of Zyns on TikTok by influencers.^[1]

In the United States, the marketing of nicotine products is subject to a set of federal laws that seek to restrict the visibility of the products to children (including banning the use of cartoons in nicotine product advertisements) but digital marketing of tobacco products was a less-defined legal area.^[2]

2024 Federal Investigation Announcement

On January 21st, 2024, New York Senator Chuck Schumer (the leader of Democrats in the Senate) gave a press conference issuing a "warning to parents" and urging federal authorities to investigate the product (seen below). He described Zyn as "a pouch full of problems" and alleged the company behind Zyn, which is owned by tobacco conglomerate Philip Morris, "set their sights on young kids and use the social media to hook them."^[3]

Online Reactions

Backlash

In the following days, supporters and consumers of Zyn took to social media to defend the product, many promising retribution. For example, on January 23rd, 2024, X / Twitter user @bigcontentguy received over 47,000 likes and nearly 5,000 reposts in a day (seen below) comparing a possible response to Zyn regulation to the January 6th insurrection. ^[4] Many high engagement memes about the topic were posted as quote-tweets of this early post.

Many of the memes used what appear to be AI image generators to render scenes of a so-called "Zynsurrection" and protest resulting from the Federal investigation. For example, on January 23rd, X user @bobbylikesbeers (seen below, left) earned over 30,000 likes in a day for posting a Zyn protest of men in front of the White House.^[5]

There were also many posts using other meme references to talk in an intertextual way about the controversy surrounding Zyns, such as the post (seen below, right) by X user @FatRatCowboy on January 23rd, 2024, which received over 17,000 likes in a day.^[6]

Two further moments of intertextuality also appeared on X on January 23rd. For example, X user @bschoolboogaloo posted a meme referencing We Hebben Een Serieus Probleem (a meme popular on X in the days just before the Zynsurrection posting began) that day, garnering over 70,000 views and 960 likes in 18 hours (seen below, left). Also that day, X user @grandoldmemes posted a meme referencing the Tenaha Police Department Drug Bust, which was frequently posted in discussions around drug policy and law enforcement in the United States (seen below, right).

Another prominent meme was shared on January 23rd, 2024, by X^[10] user @Billyhottakes, who posted a meme parodying the "Come and Take It Flag" with Zyn edited onto it, receiving over 369,000 views, 4,500 likes and 460 reposts in 20 hours (shown below).

On TikTok, some posted about Zyns amid as the news rapidly spread online, including TikToker @jackmacbarstool on January 23rd, who received over 31,500 likes and 321,000 views in less than a day for posting his disapproval of Schumer's move.^[9] This video was also reposted to the main account of Barstool Sports on TikTok.

TikTok notably placed a banner that appeared under searches for Zyn, which told users to "be informed and aware" about drugs (seen below).

Developments

Zynposting By Elected Officials

Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina posted about Zyns on X on January 23rd, 2024, challenging Schumer to regulate the product with a photo of a tin of Zyn on his desk. Tillis received over 18,000 likes in a day (seen below, left).^[7] Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene called for a "Zynsurrection" on January 23rd, earning over 1,600 likes in a day (seen below, right).^[8] The adoption of the Zyn meme by Republican politicians followed a flurry of Zynposting by conservative meme accounts such as the Right to Bear Memes.

Zyn

Zyn is a brand of nicotine products that are ingested orally through a pouch held between the lips and gums. The small pouches come in several different flavors and strengths. Zyn became an increasingly popular brand in the early 2020s as nicotine pouches started to become more prevalent and trendy among consumers, particularly through their presence in internet culture. There are numerous slang portmanteaus used to refer to Zyn pouches, including "Zynachinos," "Zynbabwes," "Monica Lewzynskys," "Ted Kazynskis," "Tucker Carlzyns" and more. The catchphrase Upper Decky Zynnies, Upper Decky Lip Pillows, Ferda related to the product also notably went viral on TikTok in 2022.

Upper Decky Zynnies, Upper Decky Lip Pillows, Ferda

Upper Decky Zynnies, Upper Decky Lip Pillows Ferda is a catchphrase that went viral on TikTok in the fall of 2022. The phrase is comprised of several slang terms that include "zynies" or "zynnies" meaning "Zyn" brand nicotine pouches, "upper decky lip pillows" meaning nicotine pouches held under one's top lip, and "ferda," which is a slang term meaning "for the boys." The various words and phrases in the sentence are often associated with frat culture and hockey culture.