“We want to get some bigger ideas, but we want them to be able to be packaged in a relatively simple way so they can be shared out with a mass audience. “That resonates for us when it comes to this because recycling can be really complex. “He talks in plain terms that people can understand,” said Tom Mooradian, senior manager of environmental sustainability for PepsiCo. To help reach those students, PepsiCo turned to Cook – someone who makes complex science fun and engaging and who already has an audience where kids are today – TikTok. The challenge, which launched this week, asks students to come up with creative and engaging ways to increase recycling in their schools. PepsiCo – maker of Pepsi, Gatorade and more – has partnered with Cook to launch its new Recycling Innovation Challenge to K-12 schools nationwide. His most recent project may give him his largest platform yet. And Cook has done several experiments using the erasable ink in Pilot pens. Volkswagen called on him to explain how their new electric car works. And he’s starting to get ad money, as companies hire him to feature their products in his experiments.Įarlier this year, Cook partnered with Benefit cosmetics to explain how the company’s magnetic mascara works (hint: it’s not magic, just science). “She’s 15 and it’s not cool to have a dad on TikTok.” Partnering with PepsiCoĬook, though, finds it pretty cool to be getting so many new people interested in science. “My youngest Is a little embarrassed to have dad that does things on TikTok,” he said. While his older daughter thinks it’s pretty cool, Cook said his youngest isn’t as impressed. Some younger students are even a little star-struck. And Cook said most of his students think it’s pretty cool. His first job – at Culver Academies – has been supportive. “This is completely a second job for me,” he said. They can take several weeks, he said, to plan, shoot and edit. As he’s gotten more popular and more engaged with the app, the production quality of his videos has increased. Cook has posted dozens of videos that have received more than a million views. “I got millions and millions of views,” he said.

Cook said it was the peak of “pandemic time” when he struck gold with his first truly viral video. Through unique and interactive experiments, he engages with learners all over the worldreigniting a love of science in some and introducing the world of chemistry to others. His account didn’t really take off until last summer, though. Recently dubbed 'Tik Tok's Favorite Chemistry Teacher,' Phil Cook has been enthusiastically teaching chemistry for over two decades. He’s made paper from grass clippings, used mousetraps and ping pong balls to explain a nuclear reaction and sets many, many things on fire. Cook records many of the videos in his lab and sometimes they even feature his students. His class is often a central feature in his videos. “The stuff I do on TikTok,” he said, 'I do a version of that in my class.' Going viral on TikTok

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