Everything is on fire so why not have a pastry?
Little treat culture has us in its sticky grip - and actually, a lot of people quite like it that way
If you listen hard on the internet, you can usually hear the distant drumbeat of a boomer explaining that if only the younger generations quit buying so much coffee, they’d be able to buy a house.
On TikTok, those younger generations are getting their own back with little treat culture - self-deprecating posts about tiny rewards, often in the form of baked goods. And it’s growing as a trend. We asked strategist and social media specialist Kim Townend what’s going on, and here’s what she told us:
25-34-year-old women are driving things
“The bigger trend is later stage Gen Z and early millennials, and I tracked cake and baked goods, coffee and perfume, and makeup. Pop culture comes in after that, so we’re seeing little treats in terms of books – BookTok is a big part of little treat culture. But regardless of what you’re into, you can go and buy a smaller version or a non-bank-breaking version and it’s a treat for you.”
It’s about glimmers, not triggers
“Little treat culture is based around the idea of glimmers: moments you find yourself in where you’re actually a bit happy. We’re seeing it across multiple platforms, and I think it almost goes hand in hand with cosy culture – which is happening across every facet of pop culture and life. It means different things to different people, but I think it’s part of the same bigger trend where life is terrible and you’ve got to celebrate what you can.”
The dopamine hit is harder to find
“We’re chasing it because we’re not seeing it in other places; people aren’t seeing each other, everyone’s friends are flaky and we’re having all manner of cultural and societal breakdowns happening all at once. This is a thing you can do that will give you a second of what you should be getting from socialising, but there also aren’t any third spaces anymore.”
Everyone is bored of being told off
“TikTok is home to a lot of financial influencers, who are saying, ‘Hey, give up everything, save up and just do all these things.’ It feels like little treat culture is a direct ‘fuck you’ to that; why would I give myself nothing if everything is so bad already? I think Gen Z has figured out they’re not getting the things their parents or grandparents got, and they’ve checked out.”
They’re reclaiming some self esteem
“It’s reflective of a rise in self worth, because people are being like, ‘fuck it, I deserve it.’ People using #littletreat are very self aware, and understand all of the context around being told they can’t afford things and they should be sensible. But they’re not buying into any of that and are just rewarding themselves.”
And it’s a gift for brands
“It’s amazing to me that brands don’t seem to understand what they could be tapping into, and from a less cynical standpoint it’s a real gift to smaller, local shops, especially coffee shops. There’s a massive opportunity for them to pitch their offering as a little treat, or to do little treat deals that would really bring more people in. We’ll probably see the big brands doing it more over the next year and reaping the benefits.”
Particularly beauty brands
“We’ve really seen it manifest in beauty brands, looking at the amount of discovery and sample sets that are available. If you walk out of Boots or Sephora, look at the amount of tiny versions that didn't used to exist. There used to be a tiny travel section, but now it’s everywhere.”
Things I enjoyed this week:
AI platforms need to work a LOT harder on their branding – the atomic swirl isn’t cutting it.
Pot Gang turn trolls into gold.
“It should be exactly not like a phone.” Rabbit CEO Jesse Lyu chats with FastCo on the winning design of its R1 AI device.
Also in the world of AI, Monumental Labs is using robots to carve stone, and has a truly grand ambition to “create cities with the splendor of Florence, Paris or Beaux-Arts New York”. They can also do you a bust.
The Crab Museum is a real place, and whoever’s doing their social media is really enjoying themselves.
I learned that a gang of swans is called a ‘wedge’.
And that people online laugh differently, depending on where they’re from.
Finally, I read about the demise of alternative social media network Ello, which started with a lot of hope and ended rather sadly.
Let’s hope Daft – which lets you share via email subject line only – doesn’t go the same way.