Graphic of Addison Rae before and after her rebrand. Photo (left) by TheOfficialPandora on WikiMedia Commons. Used with permission under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Photo (right) by Bella Newman from Addison Rae’s Instagram.
The name “Addison Rae” is sure to ring a bell to those who were active on TikTok during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Addison Rae Easterling, born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana, blew up on the internet for doing TikTok dances in her bedroom. Years later, using her fame, she rebranded herself as the internet’s modern-day “it girl.”
Rae first rose to fame on the popular social media platform TikTok in mid-2019 with videos of her energetically dancing to trending songs. Her bubbly personality, charisma, and southern charm quickly caught the attention of many users on the platform. One of Rae’s earliest moments of virality includes a video of her and her mom dancing to Mariah Carey’s song, “Obsessed,” which even garnered notice from Carey herself.
Rae’s popularity escalated tremendously after joining The Hype House, a content-creating group founded by Thomas Petrou, made up of popular TikTokers at the time including sisters Dixie and Charli D’Amelio, in December 2019. The traction of the Hype House helped Rae expand both her audience and image.
However, as Rae’s success developed beyond TikTok, she eventually left the Hype House in May 2020. Her departure, however, did not slow down her momentum. She was able to catch the eye of many major companies, ultimately landing partnerships. Some of her brand deals included American Eagle, which she partnered with in July 2020, as the star of their “#AExME” Back to School Campaign; Alani Nu, an energy drink brand founded by Katy Hearn which Rae signed with on January 10, 2022; and even Pandora, as a part of their “Pandora Me” line during September of 2021. In addition to her numerous brand deals, Rae launched her very own cosmetics line, “Item Beauty” in August 2020.
Morgan Krasner ’27 said, “I have known Addison Rae as a social media star since [around] 2019, when I was like 10 [or] 11. I was so young, so I would look up to those social media stars [as who] I wanted to be, one of them being Addison Rae.”
In addition to her various brand deals, Addison Rae began to venture outside the barriers of social media, proving to her audience that her influence was bigger than just TikTok.
One of Rae’s biggest career moves included the release of her very first single, “Obsessed.” Rae’s song quickly became popular on the internet, but not for the reasons Rae may have intended. The song faced both hate and backlash for both its sound and music video. AlbumoftheYear.org stated that her song was “a perfect example of a non-musician with a following trying to make generic pop music because it’s easy, profitable and their fans will eat it up.” Further, an article from PopDust said the song “doesn’t even offer any humor, just second-hand embarrassment.”
“I didn’t really know much about her songs and stuff during this time period, but “Obsessed” sounded very much like a ‘wannabe singer’ song to me,” said Aryanna Dalal ’28.
Another major moment for Rae was her career expansion into acting. Rae landed a lead role in Netflix’s “He’s All That” in 2021, a spin-off of the 1999 film “She’s All That,” and in reality TV, making guest appearances in “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” when invited to come on the show by her close friend Kourtney Kardashian. Rae also attended the 2021 Met Gala, being the very first TikToker to be invited to the event.
No longer just a viral sensation, Rae continued to methodically expand her image beyond just social media by stepping further into the worlds of music and high fashion. Following the release of “Obsessed,” Rae began to tease that she had plans to release her debut album; however, it ended up being scrapped. But, to fans’ surprise, Rae dropped her debut extended play (EP) named “AR,” which included the standout song “2 Die 4.”
Another one of Rae’s major hit songs was “Diet Pepsi,” which was released in the summer of 2024. The song, which had no official brand collaboration with the soda company, rapidly became a fan favorite due to its dreamy, nostalgic pop sound and its playful lyrics. “Diet Pepsi” was a major representation of Rae’s evolving music style, shifting away from the “bubblegum-pop energy” of her previous song “Obsessed,” and instead leaned into the Y2K-inspired aesthetic.
Makenna Wakahia ’26 shared her own opinions on the song. “When ‘Diet Pepsi’ came out, I was weirdly obsessed with it. The song is addictive. I don’t think anybody understands. I would just play it over and over again,” said Wakahia.
Other students expressed their standpoints on the evolution of her music.
“I think [her music career] has been really good. I really like her songs ‘High Fashion’ and ‘Diet Pepsi.’ I didn’t like [her song] ‘Aquamarine,’ but I really like her. I really love when music is something I’ve never heard before, and I feel like her music now is different [from] anything else I’ve listened to,” Jade McRae ’26 stated.
With “AR,” and specific songs like “Diet Pepsi” and “High Fashion,” Rae has proved to the media that she is committed to music, offering a glimpse into a style that felt more authentic to her artistic vision, both inside and outside of music.
Outside the scope of her sound, Rae’s overall image has changed significantly. No longer just the “girl-next-door” in athleisure doing TikTok dances in her room, Rae has been making the “real Addison” apparent through her recent projects. A couple of students stated their perspective on Rae’s rebrand, and if it felt true to herself.
“Her rebrand does feel authentic. I don’t know if this is even a rebrand or just her maturing. She didn’t just randomly flip a switch. Years went by, and her interests and tastes changed, which is what I think has led to her new image,” said Wakahia.
Krasner added on, “She’s kind of become this prime example of ‘do what you want.’ You don’t have to stick to [what you became famous for], just use that as your [first step into bigger things]. She’s iconic for that.”
In addition to this, Wakahia and McRae had opinions on Rae’s decision to distance herself from the influencer lifestyle.
“I think being an influencer isn’t as big of a thing as it was five years ago. When she first blew up it was revolutionary. If [what she’s doing now] is going [well] for her and she has this many people supporting her, it’s good for her to separate herself even though that’s the way she started,” McRae said.
Wakahia agreed, “It honestly makes sense for her to distance [herself from the influencer lifestyle], [as] a lot of influencers from her time are trying to transition into mainstream media. When she became popular I was in 6th grade, and now I’m in 11th. For her to be doing the same thing for so long doesn’t make sense, so I think her decision to distance herself isn’t [unusual].”
Works Cited
“The Rebranding of Addison Rae: From TikTok to Hollywood | Brand Vision.” Brandvm.com, 2024, www.brandvm.com/post/rebranding-of-addison-rae.
Nicky Reardon. “The Greatest Rebrand in History: Addison Rae.” YouTube, 17 Sept. 2024, www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUVWcnwveJw. Accessed 19 Oct. 2024.
The. “The Lamron.” The Lamron , 4 Oct. 2024, www.thelamron.com/arts-and-entertainment/the-genius-of-addison-raes-rebrand.
Piland, Nathan. “Addison Rae’s Music Rebrand: How “Diet Pepsi” Silenced the Critics.” Hollywoodbranded.com, Hollywood Branded, 24 Oct. 2024, blog.hollywoodbranded.com/addison-raes-music-rebrand-how-diet-pepsi-silenced-the-critics.