The demise of cringe culture (and what it means for marketers)
Somewhere around 2016, ‘cringe’ stopped being an unwelcome feeling and became a weapon; ‘that’s so cringe’, ‘that’s giving me the ick’. What once meant second-hand embarrassment turned into a threat. If you post the wrong thing or try too hard you’re done. At least on your Instagram account.
To me, this makes the current obsession with 2016 all the more interesting. The era of flower-crown selfies and earnest captions is back on our feeds (ah, I remember it fondly!), now rebranded as ‘aesthetic’. We’re reposting the very things we once learned to delete, not because they were cool but because they were sincere. In an online culture that’s been flattened by self-awareness and algorithms, 2016 represents a moment before everything felt so calculated and, well, samey.
Fast forward to today and the impact is everywhere. Gen Z, the most online generation in history, is reportedly too anxious to even write in a private diary. Not because they’re afraid someone will read them (just hide it under the mattress, your mum will never find it, promise!), but because the internalised fear of being ‘cringe’ has become that powerful. What makes us human is the need to create. When the act of creation itself becomes untenable then something surely must have gone horribly wrong? Without creation what happens to culture? What happens to originality?
We’ve moved beyond simply encouraging people to ‘show up authentically’. Now, many people are scared to show up at all. And marketers are not immune.
For years, social marketing has leaned into subtlety and the humble brag. Influencers pretend they ‘just discovered’ a product they’re contractually obligated to love. Ads disguise themselves as content. Brands bend over backwards to appear effortless and self-aware, all to avoid the ultimate sin of being cringe. But culture is shifting again!
Cringe culture is being called out for what it is - a creativity killer. And as an audience we’re now craving the opposite - honest and unpolished, slightly grubby-around-the-edges humanity.
The lesson for marketers, if there is one, is to stop apologising for existing. Sometimes, instead of the humble brag, just brag. Say the thing you’re proud of. Own your expertise. Frame adverts as adverts. Trust people enough to know when they’re being sold to and respect them enough not to pretend otherwise. Be cringe and free!
This shift is happening alongside another Gen Z anxiety: the fear of not spotting AI-generated content. As tools become more powerful, the internet is filling up with perfectly perfect and horribly soulless output. How embarrassing to not spot a fake beach pic!
In response, audiences are gravitating toward what feels undeniably human. Unretouched images. Behind-the-scenes footage. Creative work that doesn’t just peek behind the curtain but dives straight through it.
We see it in campaigns like Apple’s raw, creator-led ads and the attendance of ‘authentic’ online personalities on the red carpet (hi @Chuglygirl at the Bridgerton S4 premiere!). People don’t want flawless, they want real.
The future of effective marketing won’t belong to those who play it safest. It will belong to those brave enough to risk a little cringe. To say something plainly and proudly even at the - shock horror! - risk of standing out.
(Ugh, I can’t believe I wrote a blog post. Ick)
Explore just some of our campaigns we’re proud of here!
