Labila—her heart fluttering and nerves tingling—caught a glimpse of the sleek glass bottle on the vanity. She laughed, a little breathless, and whispered, “Om… let’s try this.” Grabbing the perfume bottle, she slipped it into her hand, feeling the cool, fragrant glass against her skin.
The hallway was quiet, and the soft click of the bathroom door seemed to seal the world away. Inside, the steam from the hot water curled around her, mixing with the faint scent of the perfume. She held the bottle up, letting the scent drift, and let the moment stretch, a private pause that felt both daring and oddly comforting.
When she finally emerged, she grinned, the kind of grin that says, “That was surprisingly good.” She posted a quick note to her friends: “indo18 best,” as if to mark the experience as a little secret‑shared adventure. While scholarship on Indonesian internet memes has focused
While scholarship on Indonesian internet memes has focused on political satire (e.g., Kampung Curhat), fewer studies have examined everyday humor that foregrounds gendered beauty practices. This paper fills that gap, offering insights into how ordinary objects (perfume bottles) become carriers of meaning in online performativity.
Three dominant thematic clusters emerged (via LDA topic modeling): Three dominant thematic clusters emerged (via LDA topic
Anthropologically, bathrooms serve as liminal zones where social norms can be temporarily suspended (Turner, 1969). By moving the performance there, Labila taps into this liminality, granting viewers permission to enjoy a transgressive yet harmless joke.
How does the Labila video negotiate humor, gender, and consumer symbolism in Indonesian digital culture, and what does its popularity reveal about participatory practices on Indo18? Sari & Putri (2022) | Perfume
The “Labila omek pake botol parfum lanjut ke kamar mandi – Indo18 Best” video exemplifies how everyday objects become carriers of layered meaning in Indonesian short‑form video culture. Its humor operates on three intersecting axes:
Future research could compare similar “object‑misuse” memes across Southeast Asian platforms, or examine the long‑term impact of such videos on consumer purchasing behavior.
| Theme | Key Sources | Main Findings | |-------|-------------|---------------| | Indonesian short‑form video culture | Anggraini (2022); Prasetyo & Lestari (2023) | Emphasis on rapid humor, “best‑of” curation, and localized slang. | | Meme semiotics and object symbolism | Shifman (2014); Nguyen (2021) | Objects acquire meaning through repeated visual pairing with affective cues. | | Gendered beauty practices in media | Hidayat (2020); Sari & Putri (2022) | Perfume, cosmetics, and grooming are sites of both conformity and subversion. | | Participatory fandom on Indo18 | Yusof (2024) | Community co‑creation through duets, comment threads, and remix culture. |
These strands converge on the idea that humor in digital media is a negotiated space where cultural norms can be reinforced or contested.