South Korean creator Min Day Lee has gone viral after repeatedly calling Vaseline “Baseline” in an Instagram video. The clip has crossed 38 million views, prompting a hilarious response from the brand itself
A simple video showing off a Vaseline collection has turned South Korean creator Min Day Lee into an internet sensation.
In the Instagram clip, Lee enthusiastically displays her Vaseline products while repeatedly referring to the popular skincare brand as “Baseline”. The video, captioned “I just love Vaseline”, quickly caught the attention of millions of viewers and has reportedly amassed more than 38 million views.
The unusual pronunciation became the main attraction. Social media users began debating what Lee was saying, with some hearing “Baseline” and others interpreting it as “Basrin”.
What began as a casual beauty video soon became a viral pronunciation moment, with viewers flooding the comments with questions about why she was saying the brand name differently.
Why Does Min Day Lee Pronounce Vaseline As ‘Baseline’?
The curiosity around Lee’s pronunciation eventually led her to post another video explaining the reason behind it.
Lee explained that the Korean language does not have a direct equivalent of the English “V” sound. Because of this difference between the two languages, the sound can come across closer to a “B” when certain English words are pronounced.
That helps explain why Lee’s “Vaseline” sounds like “Baseline” to many English-speaking viewers.
Her explanation did not slow the trend down. Instead, it gave the internet another reason to discuss the pronunciation, turning a small linguistic difference into one of the more unexpected viral moments on social media.
Vaseline Turns The Viral Joke Into A Brand Moment
Rather than ignore the trend, Vaseline jumped straight into the joke. The official Vaseline Instagram account called Lee “THE QUEEN”, while Vaseline India joined the conversation with a playful comment about adding “Vaseline for everything” to its personality.
The brand later wrote that “Vaseline has never sounded this iconic”, embracing the pronunciation that had taken over social media.
Vaseline took the joke even further by jokingly naming Lee the “CEO of Baseline” and saying that she did not even need an interview for the role.
The company also used the viral moment to highlight the global history of its name. Vaseline said its name has been pronounced, adapted and localised in different ways around the world for nearly 150 years.
So, while the first letter may sound different depending on the language, the product remains the same. And thanks to Min Day Lee, “Baseline” has now become an internet joke that even Vaseline itself is happy to embrace.