43. Brands Don't Have the Rizz: Appropriating Gen Z Slang Is Falling Flat in Social Media Marketing

Lead Balloon - Public Relations, Marketing and Strategic Communications Stories

"How do you do, fellow marketers? We think it would be pretty 'on fleek' if you would stop trying to use slang terms to make yourself more relatable to young people."

Certainly, brands swooping in and trying to leverage youth culture to drive sales is nothing new.

But as bad as it was in the 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s, the advent of social media marketing made it 1000 times worse.

The internet never forgets, and whether it's the "Silence, Brand!" meme or the "How Do You Do, Fellow Kids" Reddit group, the web is littered with examples of companies whose attempts to ingratiate themselves with young people have earned outright scorn instead.

So in this episode, we talk to Holden Jurisich, a 24-year-old Gen Z meme expert, and his dad Jay Jurisich, the founder and creative director of the Zinzin naming and branding agency in San Francisco, to explore case studies of this phenomenon in action.

Plus, sociolinguist Dr. Valerie Fridland explains how this pattern has played out, again and again, over the centuries of English language history.

Because, while you’ll find dozens of articles explaining how to incorporate youth slang into your social media marketing, or urging you to be ironic and self-aware when you speak to Gen Z in their own language, the best advice is and always has been:

Don’t.

Just don’t do it.

Because the kids don't like it.

Check out the blog post by Holden: https://www.zinzin.com/observations/2022/how-do-you-do-fellow-kids-gen-z-speak-in-naming-and-branding/

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