She wanted to help her mother with her work.was only 10 seconds of social media

I admit I’m getting a little sentimental.

As the year draws to a close, days shrouded in haunting gray darkness, thoughts meander to the next year and wonder what it will bring.

Many business leaders fear a recession. That, combined with inflation, threatens anxiety, confusion and even despair.

That’s why I wanted to entrust you with a ray of hope.

This is the story of an Illinois taco shop struggling to get customers. Her Taco Bout Joys in Glenview had no traffic.

The owner, Joy Milan, sat in the restaurant looking completely dejected.

I only know this because her daughter decided to do something about it. Or perhaps just to offer a gesture of solidarity with her mother.

she posted 10 second video to TikTokwhich shows her mother staring out the window of a taco shop, wondering about the vicissitudes of life.

The message accompanying the video was inspiring.

It’s not clear why a TikTok video posted on the apparently failing taco shop’s TikTok feed suddenly captures the imagination.

As I write this, we are talking about 39 million imaginations.

as Joy Milan told ABC 7 Chicago: “I got a text from my sister saying, ‘Hey, did you see that TikTok video?’ And I’m like, ‘Which video?’ ”

what kind of video? The video brought together customers from miles away (he was over an hour away by car) just to support the business in Milan.

You might think that this is a story of sweet joy only for this time of year. After the social media boom subsides, you may wonder whether Milan can create a viable long-term business.

But I may offer you some uplifting words.

Social media can be slammed, and for good reason, but sometimes there are magical ways to get truly honest messages to real people.

This particular TikTok video was clearly heartfelt. There was no finesse, just relying on pure humanity.

This is a reminder that many ads still eschew honest humanity and hide behind clever techniques and massive production quality.

This was a video that was inexpensive to make and only took seconds to shoot, yet had more impact than a thousand ad campaigns I can think of.

The best ads have an honest idea at their core. They never promise more than they can offer, but they also create emotions that make real humans want to react and act.

That’s exactly what happened here. Naturally, aided by the magical power of algorithms.

As businesses look to 2023 and wonder whether or not to advertise, they may need to think a little more seriously about what and how they advertise.

The message you send out, and how you put it out, not only says something about your brand or product, it also says how you think about your customers.

Joy Millan’s daughter provided open, honest, and human marketing, even if she didn’t think of it that way.

I can think of one or two big brands that I might consider giving it a try.