The Age of Cynicism Is Ending. Here’s What Comes Next..
3/19/2025
For over a decade, cynicism has been the dominant social currency. Sarcasm, irony, and detachment have shaped everything from internet humor to brand messaging. You’ve felt it. I’ve felt it. But something’s shifting.
Yesterday I saw a TikTok where a guy was listing out examples of how this kind of culture has culminated in an overwhelming sense of disenchantment.
Owning a home = impossible
Marriage = outdated and just a piece of paper
Having children = unaffordable and bad for the planet
Family = a burden
God & Religion = nonexistent or only for the undereducated
Earnestly expressing yourself = fake and cringe
While elements of cynicism will no doubt stick around forever, many of us sense a shift away from this anti-social lens on life and instead a move towards levity and towards believing in something. People are looking for meaning, and I would argue they’re looking for it outside of politics and hyper-online culture. Less Brat, more tried and true.
This shift isn’t just cultural—it has major implications for brands. The ones that recognize it and adapt will foster deeper connections with their audiences. The ones that don’t? They’ll feel out of touch.
Put simply: if there’s an opportunity in your brand’s storytelling to foster a deeper connection to meaning, take it. And, I would argue, avoid hopping on cause-driven trends. Meaning isn’t just about attaching yourself to the latest social cause—it’s about fostering genuine connections that resonate with your wider audience. Not to mention people have become much more adept at spotting brands who are ultimately just signaling their virtues in an attempt to stay relevant.
Don’t get me wrong, a brand doesn’t have to force a grand philosophical stance to "create meaning"—it just has to understand what role it plays in people’s lives beyond the transaction. Meaning can be in the smallest details: the way a product makes you feel, the memories associated with it, or the way it connects you to a group or experience.
Consider how Converse isn’t just a sneaker—it’s tied to decades of counterculture, punk rock, and rebellion. The meaning isn’t in the rubber and canvas; it’s in what the shoe has represented over time.
Nike doesn’t sell meaning directly, but it does sell the idea of perseverance, pushing limits, and achieving something bigger than yourself.
For Lego meaning isn’t found in plastic bricks—it’s found in imagination, problem-solving, and creativity. Their messaging often lands on the idea that “play” is essential, whether you’re a kid or an adult.
Not every brand needs to change the world—some just need to make one aspect of life better. A shoe company doesn’t need to solve existential dread; it just needs to make people feel good about wearing its products, whether that’s through motivation, style, or belonging.
What’s an example of a brand that’s doing this well? Or one that’s missing the mark?
