The “sleep stream” is an internet phenomenon — and now, the basis for a viral marketing campaign

Cozy Earth is running a campaign that puts the spotlight on sleeping beauties. The Utah-based bedroom brand is drawing millions of views on “Bed Rot” content that turns the trendy “sleep stream” genre into an ingenious piece of TikTok-based marketing.

The Bed Rot campaign is a contest, and the rules are simple: Competitors must stay in their respective beds for as long as possible, and the last person to rise and shine will walk away with a $25,000 prize. Cozy Earth has broadcast the action via TikTok LIVE, and some on-demand Bed Rot clips have cleared 10 million views on the ByteDance-owned platform.

@cozyearth We’re OFFICIALLY live #bedrotting #officegames #cozy #competition #winner ♬ original sound – Cozy Earth

Beneath its simple, MrBeast-style gimmick, the campaign references a streaming category that has become big business for some practitioners over the past five years. Sleep streams first blew up during the COVID-19 pandemic and have evolved since then. Some streamers let their fans watch them catch some z’s; others subject themselves to crowdsourced wake-up calls.

No matter the format, sleep streaming is often lucrative. In 2023, Twitch star Amouranth claimed that she earns up to $15,000 every time she lets viewers watch her snooze.

To bring that concept into the brand world, Cozy Earth put out a public call to find the world’s best sleepers. The Bed Rot stream is running 24/7, and is (of course) linked to product listings on the brand’s website.

It’s all rather clever, but the Bed Rot concept has downsides as well. Some streamers, like the Australian risk-taker Norme, have pushed the sleep stream to its limit, leading to health concerns and temporary bans. There are widespread calls for sleep streaming to be outlawed entirely, lest it promote dangerous habits among practitioners and their fans.

Valid as those criticisms may be, the Bed Rot campaign explains why sleep streaming persists. As odd as this phenomenon will be, people can’t get enough of it, and it might just get them to buy a new mattress, too.