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- Your ATTN Please || Saturday, 19 July
Your ATTN Please || Saturday, 19 July
Everything’s a bit delulu now, isn’t it?
Welcome, my girlies and non-girlies, to the delulu economy. Here, identities are moulded by the girliest of girly trends, burnout is a TikTok personality trait, and risk-avoidant daydreams are massive cash cows. This marketplace isn’t so much fuelled by the fake or pretentious, but consumers lost in their own bargain bin fantasy film. They might sound delicate, they’ve got an iron economic grip that can’t go ignored.
- Devin Pike, Guest Editor 💜
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WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MARKETING TODAY?
Colonel Sanders gets serious, BeReal tries making a comeback & ChatGPT wants to work the checkout
Colonel Sanders sports new look as KFC scrambles for revamp.
The old, joyful, moustache-clad man we know and love is back on the storefronts. Except, he doesn’t look so happy about it at all. In fact, his accompanying copy reads “The Colonel Ain’t Smiling.” So, what’s got his metaphorical knickers in a twist?
KFC’s poor performance - that's what. The brand has faced a period of sales declines in the US, but is officially in its comeback era with "Obsession", a spot featuring Matty Matheson, a celeb chef & actor from The Bear, which the new campaign is stylistically inspired by. In the spot, we are shown the meticulous process that led the Colonel to come up with KFC’s signature 11 herbs and spices. You'll find the spot premiering in movie theatres from next week!
Speaking of comebacks, BeReal is trying to make one - but will it work?
In 2022, the app was a viral phenomenon. In 2025, it’s begging to BeRelevant. For those of y’all that don’t remember the concept, the app sends users a notification once a day, prompting them to take a simultaneous front-facing and back-facing photo and post it to feed. It hit like crack, I’m telling you. And then, it fell off, hard. Like, I mean I haven’t even heard a whisper about it in the last two years, and it certainly hasn’t been a part of the wider marketing conversation online.
It has since been acquired by French mobile games publisher Voodioi, who has allegedly been working away in the background trying to rebuild what the app once was. Ben Moore, managing director of US operations, describes it as “BeReal 2.0”, fixing bugs, adding new features, preventing churn, even courting new users and advertisers. A debut Cannes appearance with over 500 attendees was also a successful part of the comeback play. But the question remains: can BeReal carve out a real, lasting space beside endless-scroll competitors? Or is it just too impermanent? We shall see.
Is OpenAI developing a checkout feature that would allow users to complete purchases directly within ChatGPT?
Word on the street is that’s the case. This feature would put OpenAI on a collision course with Amazon, Google and Walmart, eliminating the current friction of sending users off-platform to complete purchases.
There's still more info to come, but this move could absolutely fundamentally transform the ecommerce landscape, positioning GPT as a viable, commerce engine that totally undercuts its competitors.
-Sophie Randell, Writer
DEEP DIVE
The delulu economy: How feminine fantasies are shaping marketing
Let’s be real for a second here girlies: we may not have affordable housing, but we do have five types of lip liner/gloss combos and an emotional support water bottle in every pastel shade.
Welcome to the delulu economy, where identity is curated through girl trends, burnout is aestheticized on TikTok, and brands are cashing in on our low-stakes daydreams. You’ve definitely seen her. She’s spiral-bound journaling in an overpriced café, hair clawed, lips glazed, telling her followers it's a "soft life" day, even though her inbox has 88 unread emails and she hasn't taken annual leave since 2022. She’s not lying, she’s not fake. She’s just a little... delulu. And she’s not alone.
Across TikTok, Pinterest, and every dopamine-drenched “Sunday reset” reel, we're watching a new kind of consumer emerge: the main character of her own low-budget fantasy film. And where there’s a fantasy? There’s a cart full of vibes.
The rise of the delulu consumer
This isn’t even about self-care anymore. It’s not merely treated culture, or wellness, or burnout relief. It’s about spending as world-building. Buying products not because they’re practical, but because they help us play the role we want to be living. And all roles are all retail-ready.
We’re not buying "moisturiser", we’re buying skin that looks like it’s never been stressed. We’re not buying "luggage", we’re buying a life where we’re constantly jetting off (even if it’s just the group chat planning Bali 2026).
And brands are selling the vibe.
Smart marketers aren’t dropping product anymore. They’re dropping personas. Casting shoppers into fully aestheticized characters with set design, moodboards, and matching affiliate links. And it works, because it makes the purchase feel like a step toward something aspirational, even if it’s irrational. Logic says "I probably don’t need this", while Delulu says "But the (X aesthetic) version of me does". This is the marketing sweet spot: not features or benefit, just vibes.
But, it’s a delicate dance.
Get it right, and you become part of someone’s emotional ecosystem (see: Glossier, OSEA, Laneige, Reformation). Get it wrong, and you’re just another brand using the word “girl” as a lazy grab for Gen Z attention.
Delulu culture might sound unserious, but it’s built on very real economic pressure. People feel priced out of stability. So, they spend on the feeling of control, softness, and identity. And that’s where the opportunity is: if you show up with care, not caricature.
Here’s your cheat sheet:
Speak to the ritual, not the product.
Match the fantasy, but ground it in real value.
Don’t mock the delulu. Understand what it’s helping your customer cope with.
You're so welcome x
-Sophie Randell, Writer
TREND PLUG
You’re 25 years old
This sound comes from a line from The Rebound (2009), where Catherine Zeta-Jones’ character spits at Justin Bartha's character:
To which Bartha’s character calmly replies:
“A lot of adults read those books.”
TikTok has flipped the scene into a soft, self-exposing trend where people list the ways they’re grown... but still kinda childish. It’s not ironic. It’s gentle and honest and a little bit delulu in the sweetest way possible.
Creators play the sound as they list their own version of the line with on-screen text covering:
The sound plays as creators list their own version of the line with on-screen text covering:
Their age
A boring or basic adult trait
A childlike, niche, or “immature” thing they still love
Examples include:
How you can jump on this trend:
Let the sound play while your on-screen text matches each line. Then lip-sync the final “a lot of adults read those books” like it’s the most normal thing in the world.
Make sure to include:
Your age
Something you technically should’ve grown out of
Something you love but kinda feel embarrassed to admit
A few ideas to get you started:
“You’re 27 years old. You run team standups. And you still reread Hunger Games fanfiction on your phone.”
“You’re 25 years old. You know what CPM means. And you still talk to your plushie before big meetings.”
“You’re 29 years old. You lead brainstorms. And you still take quizzes to find out which Disney princess you are.”
- Abdel Khalil, Brand & Marketing Executive
FOR THE GROUP CHAT
😲WTF: He carved a MILLION buildings
❤How wholesome: That’s a rich man right there
😊Soooo satisfying: This kind of sounds like waves on the beach
🍝What you should make for dinner tonight: Beef onion stir fry
TODAY ON THE YAP PODCAST
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ASK THE EDITOR
I'm creating content for a rental app that exposes bad landlords and makes applying for properties easier. How should I go about this? - Edmund
Hey Edmund!
You have a strong emotional pull here as everyone wants security and fears losing it. Bad landlords disrupt the sense of home and safety by raising rents, kicking people out, or making living conditions unbearable. That loss of control is a very real and relatable pain point.
One idea for your content is to just go out and do street interviews. Ask people questions about their experience renting. You could do a series like, “How much do you pay for rent in [your city]?” and let the stories unfold naturally. Pretty much everyone has had some sort of negative renting experience. This kind of content should spark good discussion in the comments and give you the opportunity to have those conversations with your audience.
- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡
Not going viral yet?
We get it. Creating content that does numbers is harder than it looks. But doing those big numbers is the fastest way to grow your brand. So if you’re tired of throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what sticks, you’re in luck. Because making our clients go viral is kinda what we do every single day.
WHAT DO YA THINK?
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