In 2003, Apple released its third-generation iPod with a TV advert of various, anonymous silhouettes dancing like no one was watching against a colourful background. When I asked in the Vogue Business office if people remember the ads — which ran throughout the 2000s — it was met with a resounding yes from my millennial colleagues. They were wildly successful, helping to catapult songs like Feist’s ‘1234’ and the Ting Tings’s ‘Shut Up and Let Me Go’ to the charts, as well as selling hundreds of thousands of iPods. But today, their carefree vibe may be classed as ‘millennial cringe’, Gen Z’s term for the raw earnestness of the late 2000s and early 2010s, which has been seeping back into popular culture in recent months.
Just this week, GQ called out Supreme for resurrecting “another cringe 2000s trend”, after the brand re-issued its brimmed beanie, once beloved of Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz. Wired headphones (like those in the iPod ad) continue to be an It-item, beloved by stars like Addison Rae. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift — who’s made a career out of her sincerity — announced her engagement with a series of twee, floral photographs that easily could have been posted in 2009, if only she’d added the Juno filter.
Earlier this month, The New Yorker published a story titled ‘The Revenge of Millennial Cringe’, dissecting a debate about the earnest song ‘Home’ by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (prompted after an X user labelled it the “worst song ever made”). The article describes the raw, emotional and un-self-aware nature of millennials in the late 2000s and early 2010s, which Gen Zs love to mock.
After the great sock debate to the battle over gym clothes, millennial cringe has become the latest example of generational warfare, which has surged online over the last year, posing challenges for brands aiming to address an intergenerational consumer. The concept of cringe is, of course, highly subjective. “Millennial cringe is for me a catch-all phase for how the internet felt for a number of years,” says Lucy Robertson, a millennial and global head of brand marketing at influencer marketing agency Buttermilk, which has worked with brands from Nike to Prada. “It’s the lack of self-awareness of ‘I went on Facebook and I shared 100 photos and didn’t even think about it’.”
Gen Zs, by contrast, have been more conscious of their online footprints, using finstas (secret social media accounts), archiving their posts and even avoiding drinking alcohol so photos of them drunk don’t wind up online. According to research from youth intelligence agency Y Pulse, who completed an entire report on ‘cringe’, 43 per cent of 13 to 39-year-olds change or censor what they put on social media to avoid being cringey. Brands followed Gen Z’s lead over the last decade, pivoting their tone of voice to be irreverent or satirical rather than emotional and real, and following the trend cycle to avoid risking ridicule.
But the tide is turning. In a world of sociopolitical unrest, economic upheaval and internet-triggered brain rot, consumers of all ages are seeking more emotional resonance from brands in 2025. Could millennial cringe be the answer?
Why the pendulum is swinging back
The arguable peak of millennial cringe, in the late 2000s, was just after the 2008 financial crisis. Now, we find ourselves in another period of economic uncertainty, which could prompt the pendulum to swing back, Robertson says.
“There’s often this oscillation between irony and sincerity in culture. I feel like we’ve had this decade dominated by postmodern humour, and now we’re bouncing back to more emotional clarity,” she says. “I think now, grappling with economic fears, again, there’s definitely this appetite not just for irony, but for something a bit more emotionally grounded and a bit more genuinely human.”
Meanwhile, many brands have expanded their focus to older generations over the last two years, as Gen Zs have pulled back spending, which is also prompting a change of tack beyond solely focusing on Gen Z internet humour. “Gen Z has been a major preoccupation for some time. And with that came a desire, even a desperation for some brands, to lean into what were viewed as their prevailing attitudes or predilections, such as cynicism and irony; a generally world-weary edge,” says Katie Baron, chief content officer at trends intelligence firm Stylus.
Even Gen Z is changing in response to the world we live in. “This is a demographic that’s potentially not only ageing out of those attitudes — the oldest of Gen Z is now 29 — because of personal maturation, but they are seeking a different type of sustenance in their media diets, including brand content,” Baron says, noting the rise of #Hopecore on TikTok, as users seek content that reflects more on real life and its struggles, albeit with just a touch of irony to avoid ‘toxic positivity’ (a millennial cringe trope associated with the millennial girl boss era).
Embracing the cringe
Millennial cringe is playing out successfully for certain brands, Robertson says. Crocs, for example, “really leant into their own awkwardness” in recent years, she continues, acknowledging their divisive nature and reputation as an ugly shoe, after being ridiculed online. “They went down this route of collaborating with Balenciaga, [another brand known for ugly shoes] and embracing their ugly, cute aesthetic,” Robertson says. “That ended up working really well for them, and they actually reclaimed quite a lot of cultural capital.”
Swift is a prime example of millennial cringe and its benefits. Divisive she may be, inciting ridicule among naysayers for her deep lyrics about her real-life exes, her decidedly millennial dance moves, or her preoccupation with millennial cringe tropes like pumpkin spice lattes. But she has completed the highest grossing tour of all time, is the most-streamed artist of all time on Spotify, and has incited a new level of superfandom because of her honesty and refusal to conform to trends. Those who love her really love her.
And that’s the point. According to Y Pulse’s research, 82 per cent of 13 to 39-year-olds agree that “what’s cringey to one person, can be cool to another”, while 67 per cent agree they don’t care if things they like are cringey to others.
“A brand’s vibe is basically the energy people feel from you, and cringe can actually be an incredible vibe to lean into. Think about it: when someone is ‘cringe’, they’re memorable. They’re bold enough to risk being judged, which makes them stand out,” says Madison Tinder, a TikTok marketing creator with 32,000 followers who recently posted a video titled “Owning your cringe will make you a lot of money”.
Earlier this year, language learning platform Duolingo faked the death of its owl mascot, Duo. The brand’s CEO, Luis von Ahn, feigning devastation, read a eulogy for the owl on TikTok, saying he’d been hit by a Tesla Cybertruck. The video has eight million views and 450,000 likes. It was largely considered successful, but experts warn this playbook won’t work for all brands. “Duolingo took a strategic cringe approach that paid off,” says MaryLeigh Bliss, chief content officer at Y Pulse. “But there’s always a risk with that. Gen Z is so literate in subtext and tone, it can spot inauthentic moves immediately. There’s a really thin line between that strategic cringe that I think Duolingo has really nailed, which feels really culturally fluent, and then like an accidental cringe, which feels really out of touch.”
“A brand that embraces cringe says, ‘We don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we’re here to have fun and be real.’ That’s incredibly liberating for audiences. In a sea of perfectly curated feeds, a little cringe can be the thing that makes you impossible to ignore,” Tinder says. The key, though, is intent. “Cringe as a vibe works when it’s self-aware and consistent with your brand personality. If it feels like you’re forcing it or mocking your audience, it backfires. But if you lean into the human side of your brand, it becomes not just a vibe, but a competitive advantage.”
Flexing between emotional modes
The benefit of centring a cringe moment in communications is that it enables you to speak to a very specific customer, says Suzanne Scott, global associate beauty director at Seen Group. “That customer needs to be able to relate to that cringeable moment for the message to land,” she says. “If you’re a brand that hopes to speak to everyone, it’s likely not the best model because what’s cringey to some people, will go over the heads of others.”
But if your consumer is an older millennial who can vividly remember the days of vlogging and the early years of YouTube, then there is a lot of fun to be had with overly curated flat lays and shelfies, old-school unboxing videos, or even millennial pink — very clear visual cues that make you cringe a little but absolutely feel relatable, Scott explains. “It plays into the nostalgia that millennials and Gen Zs really respond to.”
Maybelline was known for its catchy “maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline” jingle in the ’90s and noughties, but omitted it from campaigns come 2015, as it began to focus on the Gen Z consumer. Now, a decade later, the beauty brand is re-issuing the jingle — albeit a tweaked version using new instruments — for its latest campaign. The jingle, in many ways, represents peak millennial makeup culture, aka using makeup to transform rather than enhance. But it had an 85 per cent recall among consumers the brand surveyed, says global brand president Sandrine Jolly.
“[Bringing back the jingle] we are employing a multi-faceted approach, focusing on modernisation, relevant cultural alignment and shared values,” she says. “In essence, Maybelline isn’t just bringing back an old jingle; it’s relaunching a modernised anthem… making it relevant while honouring its heritage.”
When aiming for sincerity, it’s about being honest while providing hope, rather than doom and gloom, Baron says, pointing to Converse’s 30-second, sincere ‘Dear Future Self’ videos (published on its YouTube channel), which spotlight the queer community. The ad flips the familiar concept of writing a letter to one’s younger self in order to achieve closure on past struggles by showing seven global creatives pen hopeful letters to their future selves, instead. “The art direction combines camcorder-style footage of them at home and also meeting with their queer communities, overlaid with buoyant, hope-emphasising soundbites from their letters,” she explains.
On Converse’s main e-commerce site, an interactive grid displays clickable photographic portraits of the creatives, which connect to letter excerpts, a short bio, and (adding a commercial spin) their product pick from Converse’s Pride collection, Baron adds.
Even when embracing earnestness in this way, there are key things for brands to avoid. “Avoid platitudes, earnestness and toxic positivity of any other kind, particularly when delivered via the mouthpiece of influencers who appear to have it all worked out,” says Baron. “This is effectively a top-tier cringe — keep it more real and more relatable.”
“I feel like it’s more for us about emotional modes. Whether it’s irony, sincerity, nostalgia, satire — they can cut across generations in our mind. And I think the most future-facing brands are building comms that can kind of flex between those modes depending on context, platform and cultural moment,” Robertson says. She uses Nike as an example, which can tap into sincere emotion while discussing an athlete’s journey or achievement, yet can be more irreverent when discussing local run clubs.
Rather than relying solely on age or location, brands should analyse their audience based on values, attitudes, and aspirations, says Parisa Parmar, creative strategist at entertainment marketing agency Attachment. “Psychographic segmentation helps bridge generational divides, highlighting shared mindsets rather than arbitrary age groups. For example, a message emphasising authenticity or empowerment may appeal to Gen Z, Millennials, and even Boomers alike,” she says/ This approach guides strategic collaborations too, a beauty brand like Elf enlisted actor Jennifer Coolidge, a 60+ icon over a Gen Z native YouTuber and achieved remarkable resonance across audiences.
Perhaps Swift was right in her New York University commencement speech (she received an honorary doctor degree in 2022). “Learn to live alongside cringe. No matter how hard you try to avoid being cringe, you will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively,” she told students. “Cringe is unavoidable over a lifetime. Even the term cringe might someday be deemed cringe. I promise you, you’re probably doing or wearing something right now that you will look back on later and find revolting and hilarious. You can’t avoid it, so don’t try to.”
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