Jet2 Holiday Meme: Advert, Song, and Origin
Jet2’s own campaign records, its official 2024 advert, and independent reporting trace the audio from brand advertising to a participatory irony format in late 2024 and 2025.
A camel runs after a person across the sand. Over the chaos, a bright British voice promises a discount on a family holiday while Jess Glynne sings “darling, hold my hand.” The images say trouble. The audio says everything is going perfectly.
The “Nothing Beats a Jet2 Holiday” meme uses audio from a Jet2holidays advert as an ironic soundtrack for holidays, trips, and everyday plans going wrong. The joke comes from the gap between the advert’s polished confidence and the footage underneath it.
The audio began as a real holiday campaign
Jet2holidays tied its advertising to Jess Glynne’s “Hold My Hand” in 2015, when the company announced a campaign for its 2016 breaks. The song remained part of the brand’s advertising for years.
On December 23, 2022, Jet2 introduced a campaign built around the line “nothing beats a Jet2holiday.” The company’s announcement said the new family and couples adverts would again use “Hold My Hand.” The phrase and song were established campaign elements before either became a broad meme.
The version most closely associated with the viral audio is Jet2.com’s 30-second family advert uploaded to YouTube on January 4, 2024. Its voiceover offers £50 off per person, or £200 off a family of four. Actor Zoë Lister performed the narration. Jess Glynne supplied the sung hook.
How the advert became a meme
Users placed the cheerful sales audio over scenes that contradicted it. NBC News identified a November 2024 TikTok of a person being chased by a camel as one of the first examples to attract millions of views. The surviving evidence does not establish the first ironic use, so the camel clip should not be treated as the invention of the format.
During 2025, the structure spread across TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms. Common examples showed bad weather, rough landings, missed plans, water-sports accidents, arguments, or unruly passengers. The calmer and more confident the voiceover sounded, the worse the visible situation could become.
The format also moved beyond travel footage. Users applied it to awkward events, failed projects, and public mishaps. “Nothing beats” became shorthand for a promise colliding with evidence that the promise had failed.
Why the contrast works
Holiday advertising removes friction. It offers pools, sunlight, savings, and a smooth path from booking to beach. User footage brings the friction back.
The meme does not need a new caption each time because the original advert already provides a complete point of view. The voiceover keeps selling while the image undermines the sale. “Hold My Hand” adds another layer of optimism, and the repeated recording lets viewers recognize the setup before the failure appears.
That fixed audio made the format easy to join. A user only needed a clip whose mood contradicted the advert. The resulting library includes staged jokes, harmless travel setbacks, genuine incidents, celebrity variations, and brand-made posts.
Jet2 joined the trend
Jet2 did not remain outside the joke. The Guardian documented the company using the audio on its own social account and launching a challenge with a holiday-voucher prize. Jet2 later worked with Skinnydip London on an authorized limited-edition product collection.
Brand participation did not create a general reuse license. Jet2 and Jet2holidays branding and campaign material, the song’s composition and recording, Lister’s recorded performance, and each user’s footage remain separate rights layers. A user clip may also show identifiable people.
Those distinctions became visible when the White House used the audio in a deportation-themed post in July 2025. BBC News recorded objections from Jess Glynne and Zoë Lister. A popular sound can circulate widely while the people connected to it reject a specific use.
For more sourced histories of internet formats, browse MemeMeet’s Meme Culture archive.
No verified live MemeMeet product matches this meme, so this article includes no sales link. The merchandise rights gate remains NEEDS_PERMISSION. Commercial products using Jet2 branding or campaign copy, the song or recording, Lister’s voice, advert stills, or user footage would need the relevant permissions and product-class review.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| December 24, 2015 | Jet2holidays announces a campaign featuring Jess Glynne’s “Hold My Hand.” |
| December 23, 2022 | Jet2 launches the “Nothing beats a Jet2holiday” campaign. |
| January 4, 2024 | Jet2.com uploads the family advert associated with the viral discount voiceover. |
| November 2024 | A camel-chase TikTok becomes one of the earliest documented viral ironic uses. |
| Early 2025 | Holiday-failure clips and non-travel variations expand the format. |
| April 2025 | Jet2 promotes a social challenge using the official audio. |
| July 2025 | Major outlets report on the meme and identify Zoë Lister as the voice actor. |
| August 2025 | Jet2 announces an authorized Skinnydip merchandise collaboration. |
Frequently asked questions
What is the “Nothing Beats a Jet2 Holiday” meme?
It is an irony format that places upbeat Jet2 advert audio over travel failures, bad weather, accidents, or other chaotic scenes.
What song is used in the Jet2 holiday meme?
The song is Jess Glynne’s “Hold My Hand,” which Jet2holidays began using in advertising in 2015.
Who says the Jet2 holiday voiceover?
Actor Zoë Lister performs the voiceover heard in the widely reused advert audio.
Where did the Jet2 meme start?
The source audio comes from Jet2 advertising. A November 2024 camel-chase TikTok is one of the earliest documented viral ironic examples, but no definitive first meme post has been verified.
Why is the Jet2 meme funny?
The polished advert promises an easy, cheerful holiday while the video shows the opposite. The fixed sales pitch turns the visible failure into the punchline.
Sources
- “Jet2holidays Launches Biggest Ever Advertising Campaign,” Jet2 plc, December 24, 2015
- “Watch: Jet2holidays launches new national advertising campaign,” Jet2.com, December 23, 2022
- “Nothing Beats a Jet2holiday | Sale | Family | TV advert,” Jet2.com on YouTube, January 4, 2024
- “Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday. Except maybe viral fame,” NBC News, July 24, 2025
- “A PR dream or disaster? Jet2’s holiday advert finds new life as joke meme,” The Guardian, July 19, 2025
- “Nothing Beats a Jet2 Holiday,” Know Your Meme
- “Jess Glynne calls White House deportation video with Jet2 song ‘sick’,” BBC News, July 31, 2025
- “Nothing beats a Jet2holiday! Skinnydip collection,” Jet2 Blog, August 7, 2025