- TikTok creators are posting about leaving “angelic yields” like toilet paper in bathrooms.
- The meme is a direct response to the “devious lick” trend that took off earlier this month.
- For the “devious lick” trend, students stole equipment from school property to go viral.
As American students began to settle into their new school year, TikTok users were posting viral videos in which they claimed that they had stolen school equipment, including projectors and soap dispensers.
Now, some creators are trying to atone for those sins with memes about giving back to public bathrooms via “angelic yields,” leaving
toilet paper
, soap, and doormats.
The new trend is a direct response to the “devious lick” meme that swept the short-form video app recently. Schools across the US asked students to stop following the trend and threatened them with disciplinary action. Insider reported that TikTok was taking down the #deviouslick tag and redirecting related searches because the behavior violated its community guidelines.
An “angelic yield” is the antithesis of a “devious lick.”
‘Angelic yields’ emerged on TikTok in the immediate wake of backlash against the ‘devious lick’ challenge
Posts about “angelic yields” began to surface on TikTok over the weekend of September 19, well into the backlash cycle from schools around the “devious licks” challenge.
According to Urban Dictionary, a “lick” is a “successful type of theft which results in an acceptable, impressive and rewarding payday.” “Devious licks” (sometimes called “diabolical licks”) became the default terminology to refer to the kinds of thefts that were going viral on TikTok.
It’s not clear exactly who started the “angelic yield” trend on TikTok, but it appears to have been popularized by TikTok user @j.uher7, who only has one public video on their account. On Friday, they posted an “angelic yield” video showing them placing a roll of toilet paper on the back of what appears to be a public toilet seat while smooth jazz plays in the background.
“Just hit the most angelic yield,” the on-screen caption on the video reads, while the video’s caption says, “no more devious licks around here.”
Since then, the trend has exploded on TikTok. “Angelic yield” videos are typically set to the track “Smiling All Day Long” from an artist listed as Upbeat Happy Music. The audio has been used to date on TikTok in over 4,700 videos, and the hashtag #angelicyield has been viewed over 29.4 million times.
The meme is now more than replacing toilet paper in bathrooms stalls. “Angelic yield” TikTok users can be seen placing soap, money, coffee makers and doormats, among other home-decor items, into the bathroom stalls next to rows of sinks.
It is not clear if these users are students or if their schools own the bathrooms they are upgrading. People speculate that administrators at struggling schools would be pleased to see students giving instead of taking.
The kids have their jokes.
“This is probably a high school principal,” one comment with 70,100 likes on @j.uher7’s early “angelic yield” video reads.
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