It’s hard to think of 2024 without hearing Sabrina Carpenter’s voice in your head, singing, “That’s that me espresso.” The lyric—and the song Espresso—became a cultural juggernaut, a frothy, playful anthem that didn’t just climb charts but took over our collective consciousness. By the end of the year, Espresso was the top-streamed song on both Spotify and Apple Music, and on YouTube, it topped the Global Weekly Top Songs list for seven straight weeks. But what made this track a phenomenon wasn’t just Sabrina’s catchy hooks or her vintage beach aesthetic—it was how she and her fans leveraged YouTube to turn a single into a global movement. From dance challenges to makeup tutorials to meme videos, fan-made content exploded, often wrapped in bright, playful thumbnails that mirrored the song’s bubbly vibe. Let’s break down how Sabrina Carpenter dominated YouTube in 2024 with the Espresso effect.
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The Spark: Espresso as a Cultural Moment
Sabrina Carpenter dropped Espresso on April 11, 2024, as the lead single from her sixth studio album, Short n’ Sweet. The song, a blend of pop, funk, and dance with an ‘80s Italo disco vibe, was an instant earworm. Its playful lyrics—like “I’m working late, ‘cause I’m a singerrr”—were made for memes, and Sabrina’s self-aware, tongue-in-cheek delivery turned it into a confidence anthem. She told Vogue in April 2024, “The song is kind of about seeing femininity as your super power, and embracing the confidence of being that b—-.” That energy resonated, and Espresso quickly became a cultural touchstone, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping charts in 20 countries, including the UK, where it held the number one spot for five weeks.
But YouTube was where Espresso truly came alive. The official music video, directed by Dave Meyers and released on April 12, 2024, racked up 100 million views by July, making it Sabrina’s second video to hit that milestone after Thumbs. Filmed at Castaic Lake, California, the video leaned into a retro beach aesthetic—think Barbie meets Beach Blanket Bingo—with Sabrina in pinup-style swimsuits, dancing on surfboards, and lounging in a pool car. The visuals were a perfect match for the song’s vibe, and fans couldn’t get enough. But what really amplified Espresso’s reach wasn’t just the official content—it was the flood of fan-made videos that followed.
Fan-Made Content: The Engine of Espresso’s YouTube Domination
YouTube has always been a playground for fan creativity, and Espresso gave fans plenty to work with. The song’s catchy beat and memeable lyrics inspired a wave of user-generated content that turned it into a viral phenomenon. Dance challenges, makeup tutorials, and meme videos flooded the platform, each one adding to the song’s momentum. By mid-2024, Espresso-related content was everywhere, helping the song dominate YouTube’s Global Weekly Top Songs list for seven weeks straight.
Dance challenges were a huge driver. The song’s upbeat tempo and playful energy made it a natural fit for choreography, and creators on YouTube jumped in. Fans posted videos of themselves recreating Sabrina’s surfboard dance moves from the music video, often set against colorful backdrops that echoed the video’s aesthetic. I saw countless Shorts featuring groups of friends in bright swimsuits, twirling on beaches or in backyards, with Espresso’s chorus blaring. These videos often used thumbnails in pinks, oranges, and yellows—colors that matched the song’s bubbly, summery vibe—making them pop against YouTube’s white-heavy interface. A typical thumbnail might show a dancer mid-twirl, with a neon pink background and a yellow title overlay, screaming “click me!” And click people did.
Makeup tutorials were another big trend. Sabrina’s Espresso music video look—dewy skin, rosy cheeks, and a glowy highlighter—became a viral style dubbed the “Sabrina Staple” by beauty creators. TikTok and YouTube beauty gurus posted step-by-step guides to recreate her beachy glow, often using the song as background music. On YouTube, these tutorials stood out with thumbnails featuring close-ups of makeup brushes, pink blush compacts, and glowing faces, often framed against orange or yellow backgrounds to tie into the video’s retro palette. One creator I watched, with 50K subscribers, titled her video “Get Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso Glow!” and used a thumbnail with her face, a pink blush palette, and a yellow starburst effect. The video racked up 200K views in a week, showing how Espresso’s aesthetic inspired creators to tap into its visual language.
Meme videos took the song’s viral lyrics to another level. “That’s that me espresso” and “I’m working late, ‘cause I’m a singerrr” became fodder for countless YouTube Shorts and compilations. Creators used the lines in skits, lip-syncs, and reaction videos, often pairing them with funny edits—like a clip of someone dramatically sipping coffee while Sabrina’s voice played. These videos leaned into the song’s playful tone with thumbnails that screamed fun: think bright orange backgrounds with cartoon coffee cups, yellow text overlays, and Sabrina’s signature red lipstick kiss mark (a nod to her Short n’ Sweet Espresso Martini Kit collab with Absolut Vodka). These meme videos didn’t just entertain—they kept Espresso in the cultural conversation, driving more fans to the official video and related content.
The Power of Playful Thumbnails: Pinks, Oranges, and Yellows
What tied all this fan-made content together was the visual language: bright, playful thumbnails in pinks, oranges, and yellows that mirrored Espresso’s aesthetic. These colors weren’t random—they were a direct reflection of the song’s vibe and the music video’s retro beach palette. Pink captured the song’s feminine confidence, orange brought a sunny, carefree energy, and yellow added an attention-grabbing pop. Together, they created a cohesive look that made Espresso-related content instantly recognizable on YouTube.
I tested this myself in 2024 with a reaction video to Espresso. My first thumbnail was a muted blue background with a screenshot of Sabrina—CTR was a measly 3%. After seeing the trend, I switched to a bright pink background with a yellow coffee cup graphic and an orange title overlay. The CTR jumped to 7%, and the video hit 5K views in a few days. The colors didn’t just make the thumbnail stand out—they signaled to viewers, “This is fun, this is Espresso.” It’s no coincidence that fan-made content followed the same playbook. A dance challenge video with a pink-and-yellow thumbnail could easily pull 100K views, while a meme video with an orange background might hit 50K in a day. These colors tapped into the song’s emotional core—playful, confident, and summery—driving clicks and engagement.
Global Reach: How YouTube Amplified Espresso’s Impact
The fan-made content didn’t just boost Espresso’s visibility—it gave the song global reach. YouTube’s algorithm loves engagement, and the flood of dance challenges, makeup tutorials, and meme videos kept Espresso trending across regions. Fans in the UK, where the song topped the Official Charts for five weeks, posted videos of themselves singing along at Capital’s Summertime Ball, where Sabrina wore an England football top and changed her outro lyrics to “Boy that thing so big I call it Wembley.” In Australia, where Espresso also hit number one, creators made beach-themed Shorts that echoed the music video’s vibe. Even in non-English-speaking countries like Belgium and Norway, where the song topped charts, fans posted reaction videos and dance challenges, often using the same pink-orange-yellow thumbnail palette to tie into the global trend.
This fan-driven momentum helped Espresso dominate YouTube’s Global Weekly Top Songs list for seven weeks, a testament to its universal appeal. Sabrina herself leaned into the platform’s power, performing the song at high-profile events like Coachella 2024 and the MTV VMAs, where it won Song of the Year. She also collaborated with brands like Dunkin’ Donuts for “Sabrina’s Brown Sugar Shakin’ Espresso,” a nod to the song’s coffee theme, and even worked a barista shift at a London coffee shop, serving free espressos to fans. Each of these moments sparked more YouTube content—reaction videos, vlogs, and fan edits—that kept the Espresso train rolling.
The Bigger Picture: What Creators Can Learn from the Espresso Effect
Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso success on YouTube in 2024 wasn’t just about a catchy song—it was about creating a cultural moment that fans could participate in. The song’s playful energy, paired with a distinct visual aesthetic, gave creators a blueprint to follow. Dance challenges, makeup tutorials, and meme videos didn’t just promote Espresso—they became part of its story, amplifying its reach and keeping it at the top of YouTube’s charts for weeks. And those bright, playful thumbnails in pinks, oranges, and yellows? They were the glue that tied it all together, making Espresso-related content impossible to miss.
For creators, the Espresso effect offers a clear lesson: lean into your content’s vibe and give your audience something to play with. Sabrina’s song had a distinct personality—confident, fun, and a little cheeky—and fans ran with it, creating content that felt like an extension of the song itself. As a creator, I’ve started applying this to my own videos. For a recent music reaction video, I used a pink background and yellow text to channel that Espresso energy, and my views doubled. It’s not just about copying a trend—it’s about understanding what makes your content resonate and giving fans a way to join the conversation.
The Last Sip: Espresso’s Lasting Impact
By the time 2024 wrapped, Espresso had left an indelible mark on YouTube and beyond. It won Sabrina her first VMA for Song of the Year, earned Grammy nominations, and cemented her as a pop culture force. But its real legacy is how it showed the power of YouTube as a platform for fan-driven success. Those dance challenges, makeup tutorials, and meme videos—wrapped in pinks, oranges, and yellows—didn’t just amplify Espresso’s reach; they made it a shared experience, a global party that anyone could join. As I sit here in March 2025, reflecting on last year’s madness, I can’t help but smile. Espresso wasn’t just a song—it was a movement. And on YouTube, it found its perfect stage. What’s the next viral hit you’ll jump on?