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Every August, potential new members, or PNMs, descend on the University of Alabama for nine days of sorority recruitment. The sorority hopefuls move through Open House, Philanthropy, Sisterhood and Preference rounds before finding out whether they received a bid on the final Sunday of Rush Week.
What PNMs wear depends on the round. The first few days call for T-shirts, shorts and comfortable sneakers. Dresses, wedges and heels come later in the process. Since Bama Rush took over TikTok in 2021, PNMs have posted daily OOTD, or outfit of the day, videos naming every piece along the way — and doing a lot of heavy lifting for brands hoping to count college-aged women as customers.
Each August brings a new cast to the same basic format. Name the top, skirt, jewelry and shoes, then head to Sorority Row. Viewers choose their favorites, follow them through recruitment and wait to see where they run on Bid Day. For several Bama Rush breakouts, the audience has stuck around long after the bids were opened.
One hopeful, Janie B, joined this year’s lineup five days ago in a J.Crew top, an Abercrombie & Fitch skirt and Nike sneakers. There were a couple issues, though. Janie does not appear to exist, and neither do the Nikes.
The redheaded sorority hopeful introduced herself on TikTok with the customary outfit rundown, though something about it felt uncanny from the start.
janie.b086/TikTok
“OK, hi everyone. I’m Janie. It’s Day One of rush at the University of Alabama,” she said. “Today is convocation. So this is my first OOTD.”
Janie makes it through the entire introduction without a single “like,” restart or lost train of thought. She does tug at her shirt and readjust her glasses, small movements that make her look human enough. Look closer, though, and the freckles on her arms disappear and reappear as she adjusts.
Her white low-tops look Air Force 1-ish, with a perforated toe box, paneled upper and thick cupsole. If you pause the video and zoom into the shoes, however, the details get blurry. There is no Swoosh, just a vaguely familiar shape where one should be. Whatever Nike model Janie was supposed to have on, it does not appear to be one the brand actually sells. Or really even shoes at all.
Janie, her outfit and the suspiciously pristine bedroom around her all appear to be AI-generated.
That did not stop people from rooting for her.
“Best of luck to you!” one viewer commented. “You look so cutesy,” wrote another. Others told Janie, “You’re so cute. Post updates pls!!” and “Love the outfit!! You got this.”
Some viewers were in on it. “You are so Authentic and Inspirational,” one wrote, capitalizing the A and I for anyone who still was not up to speed.
“This feels AI or you’re a really good speaker. Either way, good luck!” another commenter wrote, keeping the recruitment week encouragement intact while still questioning Janie B’s authenticity. Someone else simply asked, “Are we serious guys.”
The second video posted on the very new TikTok account did Janie few favors. Her University of Alabama philanthropy shirt featured warped, alien-like symbols where its lettering should have been, while viewers also noticed distorted hands and strange movement.
janie.b086/TikTok
The account later announced that Janie had been dropped from recruitment after discussing house rankings. The account gave its artificial PNM a full RushTok story arc, though, announcing in a video posted Friday that Janie was getting a second chance.
It is unclear who is behind the account or what the brands name-checked by its AI PNM make of their inclusion. Nike, meanwhile, has shown up on Sorority Row in real life.
Ahead of recruitment, Nike pulled up to Alabama’s Gamma Phi Beta house with a custom embroidery truck and pieces from Studio Fleece for members to personalize. Launched July 30 after input from more than 300 women, the collection includes sweatshirts, hoodies, shorts and sweatpants in several fits and weights. The brand also worked with Arizona State University’s Delta Zeta chapter on Studio Fleece content.
Bama Rush has also become an unusually visible focus group for a narrow but valuable demographic of shopper: college-bound young women willing to name every brand on their bodies.
Earlier RushTok years brought more Nike and Golden Goose, along with luxury labels including Gucci and Dior. By 2025, the sneaker balance had shifted. An informal tally of close to 60 Bama Rush TikTok accounts last year by Snobette News found that On accounted for more than 30 percent of PNM sneaker choices, followed by Hoka at just under 25 percent. Nike and Adidas both landed behind New Balance.
