How SDSU’s Alpha Phi Baywatch TikTok Dance Came Together

A group of 150 members of San Diego State University’s Alpha Phi sorority descend on Wipeout Beach in La Jolla. Each wears a custom red one-piece bathing suit — an homage to Pamela Anderson’s iconic lifeguard ’fit on the 1989 TV series Baywatch. It’s only fitting, since college marketing agency CampusLaunch chose the group to promote the new trailer for the show’s highly anticipated reboot, premiering in January 2027 on Fox.

The first of four promotional videos with sororities to build excitement for the upcoming series, Alpha Phi’s video opens with two members performing backflips across the sand, then zooms in on three women dancing to Beyoncé’s “Green Light” as other sorority members wave inflatable rescue boards and signs reading “Trailer Out Now” in the background.

The video, which 23-year-old CampusLaunch founder and CEO Jake Motyl says was filmed in about four takes, faced difficulties due to Tropical Storm Rachel, which pummeled the Southern California coast earlier this week. “Mother Nature was brutal,” Motyl says. “The behind-the-scenes is a little less glamorous than what you’d see on camera — the planning is really 80% to 90% of it, and with the tropical storm, the tide was [unexpectedly] high; there were a lot of [unexpected] complexities.”

Tropical storms aside, coordinating a time for over 100 girls to attend an event was a triumph in itself. SDSU Alpha Phi Vice President of Marketing Jaiden Lopez, 20, says generating hype helped get the girls to “show up and show out.” The sorority worked with choreographer Jade Adefolalu to coordinate the dance, while Alpha Phi member Joelle Better served as dance captain during filming. Members with cheer backgrounds helped lead the tumbling in the video's opening frames. “It’s really special that we have so much talent in our sorority,” Lopez adds. For Lopez, helping amplify Alpha Phi’s mission and get potential new recruits excited to join through the partnership was a major part of signing on to CampusLaunch’s initiatives.

If I could just give one person a new perspective on sorority or Greek life, that would mean the world.

On TikTok, high-energy sorority dance videos consistently go mega-viral — and brands have begun capitalizing on that popularity. This year alone, Nike, Poppi, and Benefit have seen massive success, with CampusLaunch driving many of these campaigns. “CampusLaunch specializes in sorority marketing, and we specialize in sorority activations, which are two-hour events with a sorority — about 150 to 200 girls — posting about brands, products, and in this case, Baywatch,” says Motyl. “These groups of girls are extremely sociable ... they are the people that move culture, [and] we’re building the experience and the content engine to have them move [that] culture.”

With over 300,000 active sorority members and counting, Lopez adds that the modern college demographic is a niche but important one that brands often overlook. “For a lot of these brands, the way they approach [marketing] to this [demographic] sometimes doesn’t land. CampusLaunch is reaching brands that have the power to change the narrative around social media and Gen Z in a way that feels authentic. This is the first time a sorority has ever promoted a TV series like this, and I think seeing college campuses get so involved shows viewers that this is a big deal and it’s worth watching, buying, or interacting with in some way.”

Lopez also hopes partnerships like this help reshape the narrative around sororities. “We’re more diverse and more complex than what people expect,” she says. “I used to make fun of sororities when I was in high school — there’s a lot of stereotypes — so if I could just give one person a new perspective on sorority or Greek life, that would mean the world.”

Our girls are going crazy in our GroupMe, and we keep sending screenshots.

This is the first time a television series has entered this space. It might seem like an unusual marketing tactic, but the show itself features well-known TikTok personalities such as Noah Beck, Thaddeus LaGrone, Jessica Belkin, and Stephen Amell. Livvy Dunne will also make her acting debut. Shay Mitchell, Brooks Nader, and original series star David Chokachi will also appear.

Motyl notes that within hours of posting the first video, many cast members commented on TikTok, including Beck, Dunne, and Amell. “It was amazing to see them in the comments, and the sororities were engaging with them,” he says.

Lopez notes the importance of social engagement and word-of-mouth for Gen Z and Gen Alpha. “Cast members are flooding our comments right now. Our girls are going crazy in our GroupMe, and we keep sending screenshots. We’re all freaking out and raving about it, and we’re so grateful,” she says. “It’s definitely been the talk of the campus now that other chapters and organizations are seeing our content and getting excited to watch the series. It’s creating a lot of hype.”