When Brandon Edelman (@bran_flakezz) hit 1 million followers on TikTok, he had a goal in mind. He wanted to take his followers on the kind of trip they see creators go on all the time — the kind known for elaborate branded experiences, fancy meals and “room drops,” or gifting left around a hotel room or laid out on its bed. He had already been taking local followers in Philadelphia, where he lives, to dinner and loved the idea of bringing more of them to experience the city he loves.
Edelman, who now has 1.3 million TikTok followers, is known for documenting his nights out and using his platform to revitalize local Black-owned businesses, for example. He also has a podcast, “Between Us Girlies.”
Friday marked the start of his first-ever “Bran Trip,” a play on the word “brand.”
Edelman, 28, opened the application for the trip on April 2, announcing that he’d be providing transportation for three followers and their plus ones to Philadelphia for a weekend. Additionally, Eli Rallo (1 million TikTok followers) and her plus one will be in attendance. Including Edelman’s own plus one, the trip will include 10 people.
“Eli was my first influencer friend, and we hit a million followers on, like, the exact same day, which was just so funny,” Edelman said. “So I reached out, and she said, ‘Absolutely, I want to be a part of this in any way I can.’ So it’s really full circle.” However, he noted, she is truly attending as a guest. “She shows up, she gets the gifting, she follows the itinerary. She’s just truly going on a brand trip.”
To enter, applicants were asked to create a TikTok video in which they told Edelman who they’d bring as their plus one and why, as well as an influencer they’d choose to go on the trip. They were asked to use the hashtag #thebrantrip. In a previous video with 696,000 views — the most of any of the nine videos promoting Edelman’s “Bran Trip” — he announced one other criteria.
“Listen, I’m gonna lose followers, but guess what? One, I don’t give a fuck. Two, for the brand trip, I’m getting tagged in a lot of videos of you guys being like, ‘Hey, I wanna come on the brand trip.’ I have not opened the application process, but there will be one key piece: You will have to provide some kind of proof that you did not vote Donald Trump for the 2024 election. That, unfortunately, is a requirement. I cannot have Trump supporters on the Bran Trip. I just needed to put that out there. OK, love you guys.”
Edelman is known for speaking out politically, having spoken out numerous times against President Trump. In an April 28 post, he spoke about losing a $35,000 brand deal for calling Trump an “orange hemorrhoid,” adding that he would do it again.
Ultimately, come April, Edelman received over 500 applications. “[I had] 500 videos to comb through, but the ones that I chose just had the most creative, unique applications that you could just tell they put so much heart and soul into,” he told Glossy via Zoom.
Edelman worked with the Bellevue Hotel to provide accommodations for his guests. Over the weekend, guests will go to a Phillies game, have facials at Heyday and enjoy a “Sunset Spritz”-themed rooftop dinner. Abercrombie & Fitch gifted guests two outfits — one regular and one workout set — in advance of the weekend, and brands including Ferko’s, a Westchester-based fine jewelry company, provided initial necklaces. In addition, Shark sent its $349 CryoGlow LED mask. Winners will find Béis luggage in their rooms to help get all their goodies back home. Other brands that sent items for gifting included Drunk Elephant skin care, Divi hair care, Converse, Quay sunglasses and Evry Jewel, among others. “We have 30 brands involved,” Edelman said.
“We are extremely close to our customer and keep them at the center of everything we do — in a way that other brands say, but don’t actually do,” said Jessica Hollister, senior director of brand strategy at Abercrombie & Fitch. “We’re constantly learning and adapting for our customers’ needs. We want to support not just creators like Brandon, but their communities, as well.”
As for Béis’s inclusion, Gabriella Koek, its director of influencer and social, said, “When Brandon came to us with the idea for the ‘Bran Trip,’ we were instantly on board. We’re all about showing up for our creator community in all the ways they show up for theirs. This one felt like a no-brainer.”
Bran Trip guest Jocelyn Vargas (24,000 TikTok followers), age 27, took two weeks to “plan and script and film” her application video. “It was worth it,” she said. “One of my goals this year is to step out of my comfort zone, and I’ve always wanted to be a creator. So I was like, ‘This is the year I want to do it.’ And a ‘brand trip’ just seemed like a perfect opportunity to continue to find myself.”
Vargas taught herself animation to create her video submission, which was inspired by “Lizzie McGuire.”
“Hi, I’m Jocelyn, and I’m on a journey to rediscover myself postpartum,” she says, introducing herself at the start of the video — Vargas is a new mom, and the trip would be her first time leaving her 15-month-old son. The video sees Vargas scrapbooking, with one cheeky scene showing Trump’s name crossed out in Sharpie, a clear reference to Edelman’s post.
“I found out I was picked when I got the notification on TikTok that he had followed me and tagged me in a post. I was screaming. I was crying,” Vargas said. On the trip, she is bringing her older sister, who also creates content. The two have been pre-planning content and outfits together, she said.
Vargas received a pre-trip package with a sweatshirt, water bottle and some travel necessities. “He really is treating us, not just as fans who won a sweepstakes trip. It really feels like he’s putting us on an actual brand trip,” she said. “It feels legit, especially because he chose top-notch creators to go. It feels like our craft is being recognized, and that he’s really respecting us as creators.”
Other winners included Tierra Mo’ney (@teeswizzz; 7,400 TikTok followers), whose video stated that she would bring her “twin,” adding, “We’re not really twins, but we might as well be. She’s literally my built-in bestie. People love us.” There was also “Carter”(@ccccccarter; 2,700 TikTok followers), whose video featured her best friend and guest, and predicted Rallo’s attendance on the trip. “A little bit about me: I’m a grad student, a runner, an aspiring content creator, and I have enough lore to keep things interesting for the whole weekend. I mean, I was just on a bachelorette trip with my ex’s new wife,” she says, introducing herself.
Though he wants to see how this weekend goes, Edelman hopes this will be the first of many ‘Bran Trips.’ “I want to see more influencers interact with their community and — not even give back, but just genuinely show appreciation for their followers and the people who help them stay so successful.”
He added, “A lot of times, influencers [stay within their] cliques, and they don’t really [go] outside of their influencer friend group or their own personal friend group. It’s fun to see creators interact with their fans and their followers and their community. As a consumer of content as well, I want to follow more people who do stuff like that. … it just makes you more genuine.”
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