You’ve gone Recession Blonde. You’ve bought into the tinned fish aesthetic. And you’re obsessed with finding the best dupes on the market. (Ok, maybe you’re not actually broke, but you’re def watching the ole budget). In past generations, economists noticed a few consumer behaviours that signalled a recession—women started buying more lipstick (it’s the little luxuries!) and men stopped buying undies (because who’s gonna notice?). But while being budget-conscious used to be something you’d hide, Gen Z has turned it into a whole aesthetic. You might even say they’re making it look cool [Here’s how]

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

Meanwhile other brands are going viral every week. Their secret? They're not working harder. They're using a system (and you need one, too).

At this workshop, Stanley Henry (1.4M followers, 1B+ views/year) teaches you that exact system live in just 90 minutes.

You'll learn:

✅The 1 thing you need to never run out of content ideas
✅How the biggest brands go viral on IG (plus what NOT to do)
✅How to create a repeatable content system (that doesn't take hours every day OR a creative team)

26 March | 11am NZDT | 9am AEDT | $79 NZD

Find out exactly how the biggest accounts are blowing up on IG (and how your brand can become one of them) 👇

I, fortunately, don’t have any. But my boyfriend's feed is full of it, and I think he might be slightly addicted lol.

I mean, they’re definitely entertaining. Strawberries sleeping with bananas, potato sleeping with kiwifruit's mom (they were best friends ☹) and many other various fruit infidelities. There’s even an account that posts AI Love Island fruit videos. It’s gained 3.1 million followers in just 9 days, averaging 15 million views per video. Is it worth the environmental destruction? No, but clearly, it’s resonating.

So does outrage/ harmful content, apparently. Which both TikTok and Meta allowed more of on people's feeds, after internal research into their algorithms showed it fuelled engagement – according to a whistle-blower. An engineer at Meta literally said someone in leadership told him to allow more “borderline” content which includes misogyny and conspiracy theories - in user's feeds to compete with TikTok. A TikTok employee also gave the BBC evidence of how staff had been instructed to prioritise several cases involving politicians over a series of reports of harmful posts featuring children. Disgusted? Yes. Surprised? No.

Also not surprised about the fact that Meta has decided not to kill Horizon Worlds VR after all. It’s like they’re allergic to doing what they say they’ll do or something.

While absolutely nobody attends that, a Minecraft theme park is in the works. Which I can imagine every kid and tween will be weeing themselves with excitement over. They’re gonna need a hell of a lot of blocks for this one. Merlin Entertainments and Mojang studios are the masterminds behind the $70 million construction project. It's set to open in 2027 at Chessington World of Adventures in Greater London.

The coolest part of all this is that a “selection of iconic Minecraft creators” will consult on the build, according to the companies. Tell me why, as a 29 year old who doesn’t even play, do I want to go to Minecraft World? Idk but that’s gotta say something about good branding lol.

-Sophie Randell, Writer

Specifically how our private purchasing habits signal public financial stress before official data catches up.

The classic theories like the Lipstick Index, Hemline Index, and Men's Underwear Index are freaking brilliant observations about human behaviour under economic pressure.

Feeling the squeeze, we want to still feel in control, and treat ourselves to something that feels luxury but is generally inexpensive.

The Hemline Index correlated skirt lengths with economic optimism, rising and falling with the stock market. The Men's Underwear Index noted that underwear sales drop during downturns because it’s the first purchase men defer when money is tight. These are all economic indicators and insights into psychology, gender, and what people prioritise when resources get scarce.

The phenomenon is still happening. Our spending still signals economic anxiety, etc. But what we're tracking has fundamentally changed. And I think the differences reveal something fascinating about how this generation approaches money, aesthetics, and survival.

Recession blonde is a hair trend defined by lived-in colour, darker roots, and balayage techniques. It's the modern version of the Lipstick Index. Except instead of a small splurge, it's strategic aesthetic survival through lower maintenance.

The economics are straightforward. Recession blonde lets you go four to six months between salon appointments instead of six weeks.

At $200-500 per session, that's genuine savings while still looking intentional rather than dusty. Hair salons were among the first service industries to report shifts in booking frequency in late 2025, making this a leading indicator of tightening budgets.

What's different from the Lipstick Index is the visibility.

The Lipstick Index was about private comfort purchases, a little treat if you will. Recession blonde is about making budget consciousness part of your aesthetic identity. It's a shift from conspicuous consumption to conspicuous pragmatism. Being smart with money became something you wear rather than hide.

Tinned fish, like sardines, mackerel, anchovies, have become hot girl food. Iykyk.

This is peak modern behavioural economics because it's the same principle as the Lipstick Index (affordable luxury during hard times). But the execution is completely different.

Tinned fish provides high-protein, gourmet-ish experience for five to ten dollars, replacing expensive meals out. It's an affordable luxury that feels sophisticated. But where the Lipstick Index was about a small private indulgence, tinned fish became a whole aesthetic movement.

Brands like Fishwife rebranded a dusty pantry staple food into European summer vibes through premium packaging and storytelling. Suddenly what was genuinely a Depression-era staple became something you styled on marble countertops with sourdough and natural wine. Vibes = immaculate.

The dupe economy is where things get super interesting as a behavioural phenomenon. Gen Z has largely abandoned brand snobbery in favour of high-quality cheaper alternatives. And finding the perfect dupe is a badge of honour and major content category.

In previous recessions, people hid their budget purchases.

You'd transfer Target clothes into designer bags before bringing them home. The shame was part of the behaviour. You were downgrading and you knew it. Now people are filming haul videos specifically to show how they got luxury looks for a fraction of the cost.

What's fascinating is that dupe culture signals resilient consumer spending, not deprivation. People aren't stopping shopping. Instead, they're optimising it for high inflation. They still want the aesthetic, the dopamine hit of new purchases, the social currency of what's trendy. They're just refusing to overpay for it. Kinda punk if you ask me.

When times got tough, women bought lipstick as affordable luxury. When things got really bad, men stopped replacing underwear because nobody would see it. The behaviour was about coping privately with reduced resources.

Modern indicators are about aesthetic optimisation, not deprivation. Gen Z isn't giving up looking good or eating well or buying things - they're getting smarter about achieving those things while making that strategy visible and aspirational.

Previous generations treated budget constraints as private struggles. Gen Z turned budget consciousness into community, content, and cultural identity. They're not quietly suffering through economic pressure. They're loud budgeting, strategic optimising, and making financial pragmatism look cool.

Behavioural economics as a field is brilliant because it reveals what people actually do versus what they say they'll do.

Women just knew lipstick made them feel better during hard times.

Modern indicators work the same way but the behaviours are more visible. People aren't consciously trying to signal recession anxiety through their hair colour or tinned fish purchases. They're just making choices that feel good and make sense.

But those aggregate choices tell economists something real about where consumer confidence actually sits.

Gen Z talks openly about being broke, shares budget hacks and makes thriftiness aspirational in ways that would have been unthinkable in previous eras. Behavioural economics evolves as culture evolves.

The principles stay the same. But what we buy, why we buy it, and whether we hide or share those choices changes completely.

And tracking that evolution hits like crack for me. 

-Sophie Randell, Writer

Today’s trend comes from the “What’s going on x Nicki Minaj remix”, one of TikTok’s most viral sound mashups. The remix blends the emotional chorus from “What’s Up?” with the blunt, high-energy delivery of “Beez in the Trap” by Nicki Minaj. The mashup was created by TikToker @dj.auxlord in August 2025. Although it came out last year, it has recently resurfaced and gained traction again.

People are using this mashup to lean into a “priorities over romance” mindset, wrapped in humour and a bit of chaos, which is why it is performing so well on TikTok. For example, “He asked for my number. I gave him my business card. I need clients, not crushes.” However, other creators are also putting their own spin on it beyond business-related content. For example, “He asked for my number and I gave him my Venmo, I need more jewellery money, not a headache.”

Using the “What’s going on x Nicki Minaj remix”, film yourself with your on-screen text describing what you gave instead of your number. Feel free to make it your own, especially if you are feeling creative and a little extra.

A few ideas to get you started: 

-Fiona Badiana, Intern

😲WTF: The Sims x Lofi Girl??
❤How wholesome: Everyone needs a Martha
😊Soooo satisfying: Toddlers mini fridge restock
🍝What you should make for dinner tonight: Costco scallion chicken rice

Hey Anna,

It absolutely can be, as long as you pick a genre of trend and stick to it rather than just jumping on whatever happens to be going viral that week. Not all trends are the same. There are gamification trends, bait and switch trends, reaction trends, challenge formats. Each has a different feel and serves a different purpose for a brand. So if you're going to go all-on on trends, pick the type that fits your brand best and repeat that style consistently. That way you still get the reach that comes with trending content, but you're building a recognisable brand rather than just chasing random moments.

- 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.