makerzz Trends · Friday, 23 October 2026
Brain Stacking, 'Thank You Baby' Twins, and the YouTube–AliExpress Affiliate Play
The formats creators are running today — and the one platform deal that changes how you tag products in video
Three things worth knowing before you post today: TikTok's brain-stacking trend is pushing creators to film the screen-free moments (and it's getting coverage from Mashable, which means the window is still open). The 'Thank You Baby' 50/50 Twins audio is everywhere and the structure is dead simple to copy. And YouTube just inked an affiliate deal with AliExpress — meaning any product you mention in a video can now earn a cut without a brand deal. Here's what to make.
What creators are doing
TikTokBrain-stacking content: creators film themselves doing a phone-free activity — reading, walking, cooking — and narrate what they noticed or thought about without a screen. The hook is the contrast between the calm visual and the surprisingly rich inner monologue voiceover.
Why it works: It taps the current anxiety around screen time without being preachy. The format is low-production (no ring light needed) and the voiceover gives creators a writing-style hook that fans screenshot and share.
Copy this
Film 30 seconds of yourself doing one screen-free thing today, then record a voiceover of exactly what went through your head. Start the voiceover with 'I put my phone down for 20 minutes and my brain did something weird.'
Make this today
A 'Brain Stacking' Reel You Can Film and Post in Under an Hour
- 1
Pick your screen-free activity5 min
Choose something you can film in your normal environment: making coffee, a short walk, reading a physical book, or doing dishes. It needs to look calm and ordinary — that contrast is the whole point.
- 2
Film the activity in one continuous take10 min
Set your phone on a surface or prop it up. Film 30–45 seconds of yourself doing the activity. No talking, no looking at camera. Natural light is fine. Rough is fine — the lo-fi look reinforces the 'off-screen' premise.
- 3
Write your voiceover script10 min
Open your notes app. Write exactly what went through your head during that activity — an observation, a worry, a random connection you made, or a decision you arrived at. Keep it 60–80 words. Start with: 'I put my phone down for [X] minutes and my brain did something weird.' End with one line that lands like a conclusion or a question.
- 4
Record the voiceover and sync it10 min
Use your phone's voice memo or record directly in your editing app. Lay the voiceover over the activity footage. The visuals should run slightly longer than the audio — let it breathe at the end. No music needed; silence under the voice works well for this format.
- 5
Platform moves worth knowing before you post
Two platform changes directly affect what is worth making this week. First, YouTube has signed a global affiliate deal with AliExpress, meaning creators can now tag products in videos and earn a commission without a separate brand arrangement. If you make any content that mentions physical products — reviews, hauls, tutorials, 'what I use' videos — this is worth setting up today. Second, Instagram's Adam Mosseri has publicly said the platform needs better tools to stop AI from copying creators' styles, which our read is a signal that Instagram is likely to introduce some form of style-protection or attribution feature in the near term. If you have a distinctive visual style, now is a good time to document it (colour palette, font choices, filter stack) so you can register it when the tool arrives.
- YouTube x AliExpress affiliate: tag products in existing videos and retrofit old reviews with affiliate links — no brand deal needed.
- Instagram style-protection signal: Mosseri's comments suggest a feature is coming. Document your house style now so you are ready to register it.
- ChatGPT Locked Chats is rolling out to free and paid users — useful if you use ChatGPT to draft sensitive client briefs or brand scripts you do not want mixed into training data.
What new tools let you make now
Claude Duet (launched today on Product Hunt) is an AI agent that works in the background — our read is that it is most useful for creators who want to run a research or caption-writing task while they are filming or editing, without switching windows. ElevenLabs Realtime Translation is also live on Product Hunt today: it translates spoken audio in real time, which means a single video can be dubbed into multiple languages without re-recording. For faceless video creators, this is a straightforward way to publish the same video to Spanish, Portuguese, or Hindi audiences with minimal extra work. Ponytail (1,948 GitHub stars today) is a coding-agent tool that deliberately avoids writing new code — the framing ('the best code is the code you never wrote') maps well onto content creation: the best edit is the one you do not have to make.
- Claude Duet: run caption writing or research in the background while you edit — no window-switching.
- ElevenLabs Realtime Translation: dub one video into multiple languages for multi-market publishing without re-recording.
- Sponkly (Product Hunt today): worth checking if you run sponsorship deals — positioned as a sponsorship management tool for creators.
- CutBay (Product Hunt today): video editing marketplace — useful if you want to outsource a cut while you focus on filming.
Scripts to post today
TikTokThe Brain Stacking Voiceover
“I put my phone down for 20 minutes and my brain did something I didn't expect.”
I put my phone down for 20 minutes and my brain did something I didn't expect. I was just making coffee. No podcast, no music, nothing. And about four minutes in I started thinking about a decision I'd been avoiding for three weeks. Not stressing about it — actually thinking about it. Like, properly. By the time the coffee was done I knew exactly what I was going to do. I hadn't solved it by scrolling harder. I solved it by doing nothing. I'm going to try this every morning this week. What does your brain do when you give it some quiet?
Why it works: The hook promises a surprising outcome from a mundane action, which earns the watch. The script stays first-person and specific (four minutes, three weeks, coffee) so it feels like a real story rather than advice. The closing question converts viewers into commenters.
InstagramAI Video Continuity Fix — Reference Sheet Reel
“This one sheet stopped my AI video characters from changing face every clip.”
Profiles trending right now
YouTubeSteal this: Turn a technical deep-dive into a YouTube video with a clear 'how it actually works' structure — the gaming-meets-security crossover audience is large and underserved.
YouTubeSteal this: Use the 'I trained an AI to pretend to be [unexpected thing]' format as a video hook — it works on YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and LinkedIn alike.
YouTubeSteal this: If you have a project you built at an unusual age or under unusual constraints, lead with that context — it reframes the work as a story before it is a demo.
What to do today
- Film a brain-stacking reel today: 30 seconds of a screen-free activity plus a 70-word voiceover of what you actually thought about. Post before 9 pm local time.
- Open YouTube Studio and tag physical products in your three most-watched videos using the new AliExpress affiliate tool — add a pinned comment explaining the link.
- Make one 'Thank You Baby' 50/50 split video: pick two versions of something in your niche, sync the reveal to the audio beat, ask viewers which they'd pick.
- Write a 5-point LinkedIn post using the M&S Gen Z formula: one brand, one viral content format, one affordable hero product, three lessons any small brand can steal.
- If you make AI video content, film a 30-second reel showing your character reference sheet and how it fixes the face-consistency problem — it is both a tutorial and a proof of skill.
Sources (14)
- What is brain stacking? TikTok's latest trend wants you to put down your phone — Google News
- What's The 'Thank You Baby' Meme? The Viral 50/50 Twins TikTok Trend — Google News
- YouTube inks affiliate deal with AliExpress — Google News
- Viral food videos and a £68 bomber jacket: how M&S won over Generation Z — Google News
- What is LitRPG? Inside the rise of the gaming-inspired fantasy genre — Google News
- AI Video Locations Keep Breaking Continuity. Here's the Reference Sheet Fix.
GitHub