I’m not sure when we all decided “not trying” was cool. But, I’m happy to report, giving a sh*t is making a comeback. Not in the “I need to optimise every part of my life” way, though. In a romantic, “even the little things are significant” way. Call it yearning, call it being earnest, but whatever it is, we’re ready to feel joy again (and finally, it’s ok to admit that). And whenever culture shifts, marketers, that’s our cue to sit up and pay attention. [Read more]

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

Millions of dogs go missing in the U.S. every year. Ring, the doorbell camera company has a creepy as f*ck solution—one they aired at the Super Bowl this week. The new feature, “Search Party,” uses AI technology to scan the surrounding area for your dog using participating outdoor Ring cameras in the neighbourhood. So, you would see an image of your neighbour's missing dog alongside footage from your camera. If you think it’s a match, you can then opt to share the video with the owner. Ring says it's already found 99 dogs in 90 days, which is actually pretty impressive.

But not everyone's celebrating. "Search Party" raises serious concerns about privacy, with some calling it "dystopian" mass surveillance. And it's not hard to see why. Yeah, it’s a big no from me dawg.

Snapchat on the other hand is at least trying to look like the responsible one, still. Same sh*t, different day. It just announced it's expanding its arrival notifications so parents can get pinged whenever their kid shows up anywhere, not just home. The infrastructure for this already existed, with Snap Maps being around for years. But now there's a button that turns passive awareness into active surveillance.

And because it's wrapped in parental concern, it's hard to argue against without sounding like you don't care. Sure, it's genuinely useful for parents who just want to make sure their kids made it to piano lessons. But again, it raises questions about where the line is between safety and surveillance.

In other news, TikTok's internal data reveals that its best shoppers aren't Gen Z—they're millennials. The generation that invented being extremely online, understands influencer economies, and actually has money to spend is converting scroll time into purchases at a higher rate than the kids everyone assumes are driving commerce. Which seems… obvious? But ok. Gen Z might set the trends, but millennials are the ones snatching up what’s on feed.

It kind of feels like all three of these stories are the same story. Platforms have figured out how to make their infrastructure feel inevitable. Surveillance becomes care. Tracking becomes safety. Scrolling becomes spending. And we go along with it because the alternative requires explaining why you're the one in the tinfoil hat. 

-Sophie Randell, Writer

Actually, it’s been frothing at the mouth since Emerald Fennell announced her adaptation in July of 2024.

Bring back yearning! Passion! They all scream. The amount of posts I’ve seen about needing men who pine and write poetry and stare longingly across moors instead of sending "u up?" texts at 2am is uncanny for a society that just recently said having a boyfriend is embarrassing.

The discourse is massive, and it's telling us something important about what audiences want right now. They want romance. Not just romantic love - though that, too - but the romanticisation of everything! Of life and the mundane little things that make the world go round. They want moments that don't need to be optimised or productive, just beautiful as they are. (The libra in me LOVES this sentiment.)

Wanting things passionately was embarrassing. Being horny about a period drama = lame. Caring too much about anything = uncool.

But something shifted. Maybe it was when A$ap Rocky said “Since when has it become cool not to try? F*cking loser.”

But it definitely has something to do with the relentless BookTok smut takeover.

This was like a contagion—millions of people started publicly, shamelessly devouring romantasy novels (with increasingly crazy cover art). It was like watching Wattpad 2.0. come to life.

People began openly mourning the death of men who actually pursue, who long, who feel things deeply enough to be pathetic about it.

And now, as if it’s just the natural progression of things, we’re celebrating slightly slutty movies again. We're allowing ourselves to want passion, intensity, the kind of emotional stakes that feel almost theatrical. Wuthering Heights is arriving at exactly the right cultural moment because people are desperate for this kind of media. For yearning. For romance that isn't afraid to be wild with desire.

This hunger for romance is bleeding into everything, and I mean that in the best way possible. People are romanticising their entire lives.

We’re seeing an uprise in things like supper clubs, where friends gather for elaborate home-cooked meals (I literally just threw one in the weekend). Or morning routines that involve lighting incense and listening to jazz while making coffee. Home cafés with aesthetic setups that turn a regular Tuesday morning into a whole experience.

People are even making research into a hobby, like organising their learning with colour-coded notes and dedicated stationery, because the act of learning should feel special.

Things our grandmothers did that we're reclaiming, not because they're productive, but because they make life feel slower and more intentional.

Rural romanticism and "cottagecore" aesthetics are everywhere. Cosy home content, tradwife lifestyles (problematic elements aside) showcase the fantasy of a simpler, softer existence.

People are adding bag charms to make accessories they already own feel more special. They're turning admin nights into social events where friends gather to do their boring life tasks together. Because even paying bills can be romantic if you add wine, good company and cute pics.

These things are symptoms of a massive cultural shift away from optimisation and toward intentionality. Away from hustle and toward savouring life like it’s the sweetest pie you ever tasted.

Take note that none of these romantic moments are high-stakes. They're not about achievement or productivity or crushing goals. They're about making ordinary life feel worth living.

Not once-in-a-lifetime achievements or viral success. Just daily life that feels a little more special, a little more intentional, a little more like the main character moment it deserves to be.

And yes, best believe these moments are being documented.

It would be stupid to assume otherwise; we literally live online. However, it’s not performative in the old way - it's not "look how perfect my life is" or "watch me crush this goal." It's "look how beautiful this ordinary moment became when I paid attention to it."

People are curating their lives for digital memory, sure. But the curation is about softness, intentionality, romance, making the familiar special.

If you're still selling productivity hacks and optimisation, you're missing the moment. If your brand voice is all hustle and achievement, you're out of step with this shift.

Permission to slow down, to make things special for no reason other than it feels good. Permission to want passion and yearning and romance in a world that's told them for years to be cool and detached and efficient.

If your brand can focus on repeatable small joys, not one-time achievements, and sell softness, not success, you might just catch the romance wave. Create campaigns that feel like love letters, not sales pitches. Give people the language and permission to romanticise their own lives.

Things are messy, and when things are messy, we take things into our own hands to make light of what we can. Not as escapism, but as resistance. As a way of insisting that life - ordinary, everyday life - deserves to be beautiful.

So if your marketing still sounds like a productivity coach, it's time to start sounding like a love letter instead.

-Sophie Randell, Writer

To the fortune of millions, streamer and TikToker @averageharry reclaimed his free will on camera, and it's truly magnificent. In the middle of a livestream in which he challenged himself to drink a bucket of Corona Extra with a fork (later a spoon), he suddenly changed course:

"I'm not doing this... I've just realised I don't have to."

Harry's liberation has since been clipped, reedited and posted to TikTok with Frank Sinatra's "My Way" playing underneath it. The video has become synonymous with discovering free will, and TikTokers have been having a field day with it.

Because as many are discovering, whether they're stuck watching a terrible movie or obsessed with getting straight As, we're not being held at gunpoint over anything and the world won't stop spinning if you simply say no.

Take this sound, put the camera on yourself and lip-sync with the audio. Then, add onscreen text describing a time you remembered your free will and said no to something.

See if you can into those acting chops by subtly changing your facial expression from chronically stressed out to relieved and unburdened!

A few ideas to get you started:

-Devin Pike, Copywriter

😂Yap’s funniest home videos: MY HEART DROPPED FOR A SEC
✨Daily inspo: Wise words from Tyler Perry
😊Soooo satisfying: Can’t get enough of the hydraulic press
🍝What you should make for dinner tonight: EASY dumpling bake

Hey Steven,

Ok, so this is a myth that keeps a lot of people from ever starting to make content. You don’t figure out your niche and THEN start posting. You start posting and your niche reveals itself. It’s all part of the process.  Here’s the thing people get confused about: whether you pick a specific topic niche or you build a personal brand where you ARE the niche—both work. They’re both niches. You just need to define it clearly. 

For example, if your niche is “business owner building in public,” you can talk about anything related to building your business publicly. But you can’t randomly pivot to talking about your sourdough starter (unless that’s somehow relevant to your business!). The key is staying consistent in your lane. Define your niche loosely enough that you have room to move, but tightly enough that people know what they’re getting.

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

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.