What should brands post with the Dead Wife Trope trend?

Lingering shot of a discontinued product or old packaging Throwback footage of the original storefront, logo, or first launch Out of season content watched wistfully (summer clips in winter)

Dead Wife Trope

Updated August 2, 2026

Lifestyle Humor

Example 10:07

View on TikTok

What is the Dead Wife Trope trend?

A trend set to the Do You Mind remix that plays on the cinematic "dead wife montage" trope, the widower longingly watching old home videos. The joke applies that same melodramatic longing to something totally mundane. Reach for it when you want self aware, funny nostalgia content, especially looking back at your own old footage, past products, or a season that's gone.

Where did the Dead Wife Trope trend come from?

The "dead wife montage" is a film and TV trope, the grieving husband staring at flickering old footage of his late wife set to a swelling, wistful track. TikTok flipped it into a bit, using the Do You Mind remix under clips of people gazing at something ordinary with that exact same tragic longing. The comedy comes from the mismatch: treating holiday videos, old photos, or last summer's content with the weight of genuine grief.