Featured Image Credit: SWNS
Topics: TikTok, Social Media, Travel, Holiday, UK News
Rhianna Benson
A British woman has inadvertently become a viral meme in recent weeks, yet no one knows her name.
Even her face mightn't be recognised by the million of social media users who've partaken in a trend she's at the centre of.
Confused? Believe me, we were, too. But everything will make sense soon, we assure you.
The lady behind the online hype, who is pictured in the image above, is 43-year-old Zoë Lister, a voiceover artist who's recorded jingles for countless huge-name brands, specifically travel firms.
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In 2019, the mother-of-two - who hails from Maidenhead, Berkshire - was contacted by her voiceover agent, who informed her that a particularly prolific air travel and holiday-making company were hiring a new artist.
Said individual's voice would feature on a brand new campaign, aimed at promoting a £50 per person discount.
Is she ringing any bells yet? If not, we're just going to assume you've been living under a rock for the last few months.
For those who need a little help, it turns out that Lister is the voice behind the infamous Jet2 holiday adverts, the audio from which has been doing the rounds online recently.
You know, the 'nothing beats a Jet2 holiday', chick?
Lister's voice is played over Jess Glynn's 2015 track 'Hold My Hand', and has featured on television ads and in online campaigns across the UK for over five years now. It's also what fliers will hear played over the tannoy as they embark onto a Jet2 flight.
Well, if you've been on TikTok recently, you'll likely be well aware that the voiceover has made its way onto the video-sharing app, with even the biggest names in content creation using the reference.
In the majority of cases, the sound has been used to accompanying a clip of something going savagely wrong during a vacation - whether that be flying off the back of a banana boat at full speed, or arriving at your 5* hotel to find it doesn't really exist.
You know, those kinds of disasters that seem to only happen abroad?
Other users, however, simply record themselves lip-syncing Lister's words.
Either way, Lister doesn't seem overly bothered by her voice having gone viral online, and even predicts that holidaymakers are 'absolutely sick' of hearing her blaring through airplane speakers across Europe.
"It just sort of escalated," she told press recently. "They said actually we want you for the campaigns as well.
"And I was like, great. Now it's just been ticking over every year since then, which has been marvellous."
One thing that does put a slight bee in her bonnet, however, is that she doesn't yet receive any special benefits from Jet2 - neither complimentary flights nor discounted hotel stays.
"To be fair I've never asked," Lister confessed. "I feel like I should say, 'Hey Jet2, what about a free package holiday?' But I find it too awkward to ever ask for things. I'm too scared of a no."
She went on to add of the trend in general: "There's so many voiceovers out there, I don't know why it's seeped into the public consciousness in the way that it has. It seems to represent Britishness or something like that, I don't know!
"You'll have to ask Gen Z why they love it so much."