Meet 20-year-old Mel Sommers from California, who started a viral TikTok trend for Olivia Rodrigo's song "Drivers License."
Sommers told BuzzFeed News that her initial TikTok was inspired by Rodrigo's music video, particularly the moment when the singer looks into the camera and falls back.
"Initially she hangs out of a car, but none of my friends agreed to drive me as I hung out of their car, so I thought falling back onto a bed was a better choice," she said.
The trend ended up going viral almost immediately. Sommers said she's glad it did — not because of her new followers, but because she's a huge fan of Rodrigo's.
"I was just like, whoa, that’s cool. I started something. I think I was more happy that my trend was able to boost Olivia's streams than it going viral," she said.
Thousands of people started doing Sommers' challenge on TikTok.
However, only a few people have credited her when they re-created the trend.
So she did the challenge again — but this time with two middle fingers up as she falls onto her bed.
"At first I personally didn’t have a problem with not being credited," she said, "until I received a lot of comments telling me that it’s not fair and that creators do it to small creators all the time."
She said she started to realize how it could be a problem when Rodrigo posted to Instagram other videos by more popular creators doing the trend Sommers had invented.
"Bigger creators not giving credit limits the opportunities we have. ... It’s easier for them to get noticed because they already have a platform," Sommers said. "And they’re familiar, but us little guys have to work harder just for a little appreciation."
She said when she made the video calling creators out it was mostly a joke, as she wasn't that upset. She also got a lot of support.
"It was insane to see how many people had my back and made sure to make it known that I was the creator," she said. "My notifications were spammed with '@spoiledmel created this, please credit her' on thousands of videos, and I couldn’t believe it."
Rodrigo hasn't interacted with her video, but Sommers said if she did get to speak to the singer, she would "try to make it clear how much of an impact she’s had on [her]."
"She’s such an inspiration and an amazing role model to all generations," Sommers said. "I wish her nothing but love, happiness, and success for today and the rest of her life."