Why Miley Cyrus’s “Bad Girl" Rebrand Worked, But JoJo Siwa's Didn’t

Everyone is talking about 21-year-old JoJo Siwa's rebrand from child star to “bad girl,” and the majority of the comments are negative (if not downright cruel). While she's succeeded in making headlines, it appears to be for all the wrong reasons.

JoJo herself says she wants to be like Miley Cyrus and replicate her iconic 2013 Bangerz rebrand, but it's just not working. Some argue it's because Miley is a better vocalist than JoJo, and while that argument has some merit, it’s not the whole picture.

JoJo Siwa, from Dance Moms to Pop Singer

JoJo Siwa got her start in 2013 on the hit reality show Dance Moms when she was only 9 years old. She later launched her own YouTube channel (her old channel, XOMG POP, has 12.2 million subscribers), leading to a career in music and a talent deal with Nickelodeon. In the late 2010s, it was nearly impossible to shop anywhere without seeing JoJo Siwa merchandise. Her brand was kid-friendly, full of sparkles, rainbows, and bows, essentially making her a walking Claire's store.

At the height of her fame, she collaborated with popular YouTubers (at the time) like James Charles and Shane Dawson, even posting a video of her making slime with North West. Her brand was all about maximalism with an aesthetic full of pink, purple, and unicorns, and young girls around the country were obsessed.

In 2021, JoJo came out as gay on Instagram, claiming that she felt the “happiest she'd ever been.” Later that year, she became the first Dancing with the Stars contestant to have a same-sex partner and ultimately ended the season as the first runner-up. This helped her launch into the next phase of her career, which began this summer. JoJo released the single “Karma,” from her debut EP, Guilty Pleasure, her first album since leaving Nickelodeon. 

In “Karma,” JoJo sings about cheating on her girlfriend with other girls, and her “karma” is her girlfriend moving on with someone else. The music video shows JoJo dancing sexually with multiple girls on a cruise ship before her girlfriend leaves her for someone else, and JoJo appears to turn into a grunge mermaid after falling into the water.

The music video for her second single, “Guilty Pleasure,” is somehow even more bizarre than its predecessor. She attempts to copy the imagery of Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz era with teddy bears and hammers (we wish we were joking) in her “Pleasure House,” but it comes across as extremely cringey rather than genuinely shocking. When you compare the transformations of both stars, it's clear why Miley's rebrand worked and JoJo's failed.

Miley's Transformation Was Gradual, While JoJo's Was Almost Overnight

If you're a millennial, you probably remember where you were when you first watched Miley's controversial performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards or when she released the “We Can't Stop” and “Wrecking Ball” music videos. While her transformation felt shocking (the foam finger moment still weirds us out), it was no secret that Miley’s career had been maturing with her as she aged.

The early stages of her career were defined by her role as Disney’s Hannah Montana and teen pop music, which made sense because she was a young teen. Everything about her was cute and family-friendly. The 2007 album Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus introduces fans to Miley outside of Hannah Montana with teen pop bangers like “See You Again” and “Start All Over.” 

Her 2008 album, Breakout, had more high school than middle school vibes. “7 Things” (which is definitely about Nick Jonas) tells the story of a rollercoaster of a relationship, and “Fly on the Wall” pokes fun at how the paparazzi was always involved in her personal life. In 2009, she released hit singles “Party in the USA,” “The Climb,” and “When I Look at You.” “Party in the USA” showed her dressed like an older teenager (which she was) having fun in the music video, “The Climb” explores themes of growing up, and “When I Look at You” explores themes of love that are more mature than some of her previous songs.

Her third album, Can't Be Tamed, was released in 2010 and was her most mature one yet. It's different and edgier than her previous work, but it wasn't too shocking, essentially planting the seed for what was to come. The music video for “Can't Be Tamed” was avant-garde, similar to what Lady Gaga was doing at the time. With lyrics like “I go through guys like money” and the title of the song itself, her transition to adulthood was as clear as day. The video for the album's second single, “Who Owns My Heart,” is similar, showing her getting ready to go clubbing in her underwear and grinding on various individuals.

This all led to her “bad girl” rebranding with her 2013 album, Bangerz. Her infamous VMA performance and music videos for singles like “We Can't Stop” and “Wrecking Ball” were both shocking (who licks a hammer and rides a wrecking ball naked?) and cringey at the time, but she got the attention that she wanted. To make things better, the music on Bangerz is incredible, which is why it's still popular to this day. “Wrecking Ball” and “Drive” paint a beautiful and emotional portrait of experiencing your first adult heartbreak, a natural progression from her previous work.

However, the same can't be said for JoJo Siwa's rebrand. Ironically, nothing sums up the timeline of her rebrand quite like Chloe Fineman's parody of her on Saturday Night Live. “From 2011 to 2023, I was eight, but now I'm 20 and gay!” Fineman said as she dressed up as JoJo in a sparkly black bodysuit and blonde mohawk. 

While JoJo has shown a more mature side of herself after coming out as gay in 2022 and appearing on Dancing with the Stars, she still kept the same sparkly rainbow aesthetic that had been her signature look for several years. Perhaps if she had been more gradual in the evolution of her career by aging with her music and alongside her fans instead of holding onto her little girl persona for so long, her rebrand might have avoided a second pitfall: inauthenticity. 

Miley's Transformation Was Authentic, While JoJo's Feels Forced

One thing that made Miley's rebrand unique was that it was authentic. She wasn't just singing about twerking and doing drugs at clubs, she was actually doing those things at the time. For the fans that grew up with her, this was relatable as many were in college and going through their party girl phases too. The average fan wasn't as wild and likely replaced drugs with cheap liquor and clubs with dingey college bars and frat house basements, but there was a mutual understanding between both parties that they were in the wild stage between their teen years and adulthood. Looking back, it was a great marketing strategy, so much so that JoJo desperately wanted to copy it.

YouTuber Zoe Unlimited says it perfectly in a recent video on the topic. She says, “She's proving to the world the naivete she has by cosplaying as an adult and doing very poorly. There is nothing authentic about this new ‘brand,’ if you can even call it that.” Think about it for a second. JoJo opens “Karma” by calling herself a “bad girl,” and nothing says fake “bad girl” like calling yourself one. From the viral video of her struggling to chug liquor on stage to the way she carries herself, it's clear that she's just an older version of the squeaky clean girl that her fans fell in love with, and that's okay. But the rebrand fails because it's not authentic.

If her rebrand simply elevated her aesthetic and portrayed her as struggling to figure out who she is as an adult, fans would likely appreciate it because it's relatable. It's something that every young woman experiences, and it would have been the perfect way to connect with the fans who grew up with her and are close to her in age.

Child star rebrands are nothing new, but it's clear which ones worked and which ones didn't. Miley Cyrus did an incredible job with hers back in 2013, but that doesn't make it the blueprint. Authenticity was at the core of her rebrand, something JoJo Siwa clearly missed when she was taking notes on what to do.

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