What kind of product description is going to sell you more — a long, detailed, imagery rich paragraph or a short funny sentence and some emojis? A new Instagram trend is asking that very question as food brands pit Millennial marketing against Gen Z marketing, revealing that the generational gap applies to selling food products too. “Less is more” is apparently the name of Gen Z’s marketing game, while “go big or go home” is more the Millennials’ style. The unserious trend is gaining attention from brands and consumers alike, and let’s just say, the different generations have thoughts.
What is this trend?
Big brands are populating Instagram with identically formatted posts comparing the ways that Millennial teams market a product vs. the way Gen Z teams do. On the left side, there’s a long-winded, thorough explanation about the product, providing extensive details about the products’ features and generally grandiose imagery. This is the Millennial method. The Gen Z way is on the right, which is generally just a few words and emojis.
Variations of “this eats” are pretty popular, as are other posts using Gen Z slang. A Maruchan post had Gen Z describing their Gold Spicy Tonkatsu as “yummy fr lol,” while Tony Chocolonely’s pushed it further, with their Gen Z edition for a chocolate bar reading, “ur just not clocking how bussin’ this is.” Other food companies, from fast food companies to small restaurants to kitchen products have joined the trend, including Regal popcorn, Coffee Mate creamer, Wendy’s Canada, Arm & Hammer Baking Soda, and Morton’s salt.
How are people reacting?
For all the time and effort the Millennials are putting into creating these luscious descriptions, they are losing the public vote to Gen Z’s quick descriptions. Many commenters admitted to liking the Gen Z versions more, while others popped in to correct some companies on their Gen Z slang. Regal’s popcorn post got hammered for saying their popcorn “slaps” instead of “smacks.” Apparently, if you’re going to commentate (or make fun of, depending on how you look at it) of Gen Z, you at least have to get it right.
However, not everyone is on Gen Z’s side. As user @boydixonentertainment said in Wendy’s Canada’s comment section, “funny how the one on the left makes for better advertising though,” bringing into question how much Gen Z’s method is actually marketing. Wendy’s Canada replied to them, “it’s [the left] just “descriptive” but the right has aura.”
Some commenters were even bringing other generations into the conversation. One user, @cajordan5202, said, “Gen Alpha Marketing: “Each piece costs $0.67 to make 😛😛.” A potential member of Gen X, @thesinglettas, chimed in, “So if we’re Gen X are we just too old for this?? 😆.”
What does it all mean?
The trend might be a gag, but it has accidentally become a pretty poignant commentary on generational differences in branding, social media usage, and consumption. Millennial marketing is a lot, arguably to the point of being word vomit, in an effort to make their product sound as appealing as possible through vivid detail. Meanwhile, Gen Z marketing says very little about the actual elements of a product, instead relying heavily on vibes and an audience’s understanding of generational slang and trends. Neither style is universal, with different audiences resonating with different styles.
Either way, as Gen Z infiltrates the workplace more and more, marketing very well may feature less descriptive yapping and more aura-based branding. Sorry, Millennials (?).