TikTok has its latest obsession, and it involves Jon Hamm in a blue-lit stupor. The “Turn the Lights Off” meme marries a hypnotic dance-floor moment in an Apple TV series to a decade-old club track, transforming it into a blissed-out punchline that creators deploy to savor small, perfect victories.
What Is the Jon Hamm ‘Turn the Lights Off’ Meme
The formula is straightforward: a setup describing someone winning quietly, followed by a sting featuring Hamm doing some dance-floor vibing to the bassline. “when the office dog chooses your lap,” “when a roommate washes the dishes without being asked,” or “a friend says they’ve never seen Lord of the Rings and want to watch them all consecutively.” The clip is also the internet’s pet spirit animal for spoiled animals — particularly cats getting deluxe chin scratches.
It’s not a meme of narrative payoff; it’s one of mood. The edit to Hamm’s ultra-chill sway is the punchline of the joke, and there is a low-grade euphoria that comes with it that words can’t really express.
Where the Jon Hamm clip and viral sound come from
The scene is from Apple TV’s Your Friends and Neighbors, in which Hamm stars as Andrew “Coop” Cooper. In the episode that ignited the trend, Coop — downed by personal and financial trauma — is granted catharsis on the floor of a club. In the show, this scene is accompanied by Joseph William Morgan’s “Sentient System.”
TikTok replaces that sound with “Turn the Lights Off,” a 2010 single by the Danish DJ Kato featuring vocals from Jon Nørgaard (billed simply as Jon). That swap-out is also crucial to the joke: the track’s springy synths and crisp drop key nicely into Hamm’s loose shoulders and head nod, turning a character’s mind escape into a kind of universal vibe-check.
The meme’s stitchable form has contributed to its spread. One creator gives the setup in the first seconds, then cuts right to Hamm as the beat crescendos — a handy, repeatable format that works so well on looping feeds.
Why this Jon Hamm TikTok meme format works so well
Visually, the scene is made for the internet: monochrome blue lighting, a central subject, and smooth, legible movement that reads even on small screens. Sonically, “Turn the Lights Off” lands on a tempo and tone that bounce, celebratorily, without tipping over into parody. The result is a punchline that reads as “earned euphoria,” not just chaos.
It also taps into a larger TikTok archetype: the “quiet flex.” No wild reaction faces; the internet’s where you’ll find those. That subtlety makes the payoff feel cooler, more shareable than direct gags — and it’s why the clip works as well for micro-wins as it does with purring cats.
The Music Effect: Old Tracks Find a New Life
“Turn the Lights Off” predates TikTok by more than half a decade, but the app is constantly reviving old songs. There have been repeated spikes in older songs from short-form video — think: Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor,” or Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.”
Larger among the streaming news is a library takeover. Luminate has found that older music now makes up the majority of on-demand streams in the U.S., and TikTok’s own research shows that discovery through the app continues to shuttle listeners over to streaming services. Put another way, a meme like this can lead to real-world surges for a 2010 single — new listeners, fresh Shazams, and added placements on playlists again.
There’s also the novelty element: the credit “Kato feat. Jon” occasionally fools casual scrollers into thinking that the “Jon” of the song might be Jon Hamm, which serves as an additional layer of comment-section chatter to stoke engagement.
How to get in on the trend with timing and sound
- Keep your setup short. A line that telegraphs a tiny, joyous win is best.
- Stitch or cut straight into the Hamm dance clip at the beat lift. Timing is key, and the switch should feel like an exhale.
- Use the sound “Turn the Lights Off” from the app’s audio library. The most-used version gives your post a vehicle to travel within the trend’s ecosystem.
- Let the vibes speak for themselves. Scant text, tight framing, and a short loop keep the energy high and the watch time high.
The takeaway: a simple, euphoric meme with staying power
This isn’t a meme that functions on lore — just clean vibes with surgical timing. By setting Hamm’s ultra-relaxed dance to a 2010 sticky club track, TikTok has alchemized one character’s moment of escape into a universal language for everyday joy. And as with many platform-born trends, it’s giving an older song a surprising second life as it gleefully takes over feeds.
