Do your Sonny Angels have blush blindness?
Gen Z is bringing cuteness back.
Keep scrolling for an analysis on marketing in a post-Millennial era.
How Sonny Angels and Smiskis Took Over TikTok
At some point, we have all been inspired (or maybe brainwashed) to buy something trendy on TikTok. From the Dyson Airwrap to the Stanley Cup, the “TikTok made me buy it” phenomenon is all-encompassing. However, recently, it hasn’t been a beauty product going straight from our FYP to our shopping cart; it is Sonny Angels and Smiskis. Journalist Mia Glass explores how these figurines have captured TikTok in a new piece for Bloomberg.
For those unfamiliar with Sonny Angels and Smiskis, they are both collectibles by Japanese toy company Dreams Inc. Sonny Angel is “a little angel boy who likes wearing all sorts of headgear,” whereas Smiskis are “curious [green] little creatures” that glow in the dark.
“Their tiny size makes them easy to carry around for emotional support,” Glass writes. “A Smiski can also be easily placed against walls or shelves, like a ‘mysterious fairy that watches over you’… while Sonny Angels are ‘little boyfriends.’”
These figurines started gaining popularity outside of Japan around 2022 and have continued to find success— with US sales “about three to four times higher last year than [they were] in 2022.”
Interestingly, Glass suggests that the popularity of these figurines indicates a changing perception of “cuteness” in America. Not only does this reflect globalisation, but it is also just another example of Gen Z making adulthood a little more unserious.
“Gen Z and Millennials are now rejecting rigid expectations of what adulthood must look like,” Assistant professor Erica Kanesaka tells Glass. “Putting a Sonny Angel on your desk at work is one small way of saying that cuteness and adulthood can coexist, that you don’t have to be a child to enjoy cute things.”
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Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browserOn top of this, the packaging of Sonny Angels just works for social media. Each figurine comes wrapped, so there is an element of surprise each time a package is opened. As Sonny Angel unboxing videos pop up across the app, the intrigue makes the experience even more fun.
These unboxing videos also fit perfectly with the cultural zeitgeist, especially as they frequently tap into ASMR and are similar to hauls.
Read the piece via Bloomberg.
From Sabrina Carpenter to “blush blindness,” why’s everyone wearing blush?
While TikTok may be the reason Sonny Angels are in demand, it is also why we all *allegedly* have blush blindness. In a new piece for Vox, Kyndall Cunningham breaks down TikTok’s newest beauty trend.
Over the past month, TikTok users have been debating various forms of beauty “blindness,” which essentially, refers to losing the ability to recognise when too much is too much.
The term emerged when TikTok users started reflecting on the tragedy that was 2016 eyebrows.
"Users began reminiscing about this era of makeup with shame and regret,” Cunningham writes. “Now many online makeup lovers have started to become concerned about other cosmetic trends they may be overdoing, especially the current level of pigment on their cheeks, as blush has emerged as the latest makeup craze.”
However, Cunningham notes that “blush blindness” might be more than just another viral beauty trend. Amid the obsession with all things girlcore, blush is a way for people to express their femininity unapologetically.
“Beauty forecasters have linked the current blush boom to something a little more rebellious and experimental than just the pursuit of youth. It might just be that blush has become the ultimate form of feminine self-expression,” she continues.
TikTok’s obsession with blush came after years of Kardashian-esque makeup, which favoured a bronze and snatched look. However, the pandemic shifted many of our priorities, leading us to focus more on skincare and, in turn, natural makeup.
Of course, these looks have become more daring, with Cunningham pointing to trends like “strawberry girl makeup” and “tomato girl makeup” as aesthetics that embrace blush.
While Gen Z’s penchant for blush might be related to their fear of aging (flushed cheeks have long been associated with a youthful appearance), many beauty lovers are getting creative with their blush placement and colours.
“Whether or not consumers are applying blush in a socially conscious manner, it seems like young people are simply ready to experiment again and deviate from bland trends,” Cunningham concludes. “It’s one thing when a certain makeup routine feels dutiful, but it’s another thing when women are genuinely having fun.”
Read the full story via Vox.
Drew Afualo will never stop making fun of misogynist men
Now, if one person is encouraging women to have fun and do whatever they want, it is Drew Afualo. Upon releasing her new memoir-manifesto, Loud: Accept Nothing Less Than the Life You Deserve, Drew sat down with Jason Praham for WIRED to chat about the state of social media, misogynists and her career thus far.
Since 2020, Drew has built her viral platform around her unfiltered, unapologetic takedowns of men who make misogynistic videos about women. Her signature quick-witted, comedic tactics have become iconic, with Drew accumulating over 8 million followers.
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Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browserWhile Drew continues to move from strength to strength—hosting her podcast, ‘The Comment Section,’ and even attending the Oscars—she remains a polarising figure, particularly among men.
“There is a beauty and a curse to the internet,” she tells Praham. “It’s wonderful that so many people have found community… unfortunately, though, that kind of access is not exclusive to people who are not vitriolic and people who are not bigoted.”
But this is exactly why Drew is passionate about what she does. By using humour to absolutely destroy bigots and misogynists, she continues to stand up for groups who are sidelined.
“Learning to laugh at it means that you no longer draw validation from the opinions of men who are far beneath you. And so if you don't draw validation from them, their words can't hurt you. That’s why my humor has been so paramount in me unpacking my own internalized misogyny,” Drew continues.
Speaking of her own experience as a Samoan woman, Drew emphasises the importance of marginalised groups continuing to make their voices heard, even in a crowded social media landscape.
“From the very beginning, I've always made sure that intersectionality is at the forefront of my show,” Drew says of her podcast. “My priority has always been to platform people from all different walks of life and all different marginalized groups.”
Read the interview via WIRED.
How ‘Skibidi Toilet’ became one of the most valuable franchises in Hollywood
Where Drew is pivoting into publishing, Skibidi Toilet is heading to the silver screen. In a recent piece for The Washington Post, Taylor Lorenz reveals that Gen Alpha’s favourite YouTube series is in talks to be adapted into both a TV show and a movie.
Skibidi Toilet is a YouTube series on the DaFuq!?Boom! channel, and has quickly become one of the popular series online.
The show features Skibidi Toilets (animated toilets with human heads) as they battle figures who have CCTV cameras and televisions for heads.
The show’s creator Alexey Gerasimov is currently collaborating with Hollywood entertainment studio Invisible Narratives to expand the Skibidi Toilet cinematic universe (Think Marvel, but Gen Alpha).
Michael Bay — who has directed the likes of Bad Boys and Transformers — is also involved in the project.
“I’ve always been a director that believes in taking risks…Audiences yearn for fresh, new ideas. With ‘Skibidi,’ it’s a new world of what the younger generation is watching, and I’m taking it very seriously,” Bay tells The Washington Post.
While the movie is still in the works, Skibidi Toilet is already well on its way to being franchised.
“‘Skibidi Toilet’-themed toys will soon hit the shelves of every major retailer, thanks to a deal the company struck with Bonkers Toys,” Lorenz writes. “And licensing agreements aimed at expanding the brand into products such as ‘Skibidi Toilet’ bedding, apparel, plush toys and more have been inked.”
Whether Skibidi Toilet will achieve the same level of success as previous franchises remains uncertain. However, it’s clear that the Skibidi team is packed with experienced talent, ready to expand the Skibidi universe.
Read the piece via The Washington Post.
Post-Millennial trends: People don’t identify with subcultures anymore
Brand strategist and lecturer at the University of Melbourne, Eugene Healey, launched a new TikTok series this week exploring the five post-Millennial trends that “brands need to be aware of.”
In part one of his series, Healey explores how “people don’t identify with subcultures anymore.” Millennial marketing was defined by identity, where young people bought into the lifestyle that a brand was selling.
“I sell you an aspirational lifestyle, and identity within that lifestyle, that’s then executed through a product that you can buy,” Healey says.
The Harry Potter houses, Healey notes, are a good example of this. Once a Millennial identified with one Harry Potter house, that was their house “for life.”
However, Healey argues that due to the changing media landscape, “fixed identities” are a thing of the past, and rather people are more likely to adopt temporary aesthetics to suit our current “era.”
This is particularly true for Gen Z, the first social media-native generation that grew up with plentiful resources and sources of inspiration to help shape their identity.
Millennials, on the other hand, were raised on magazine culture, where they were okay with being told (or, even expected to be told) who they were, how to act, and what was cool.
Healey explains how this shift has made it “harder for brands to grow by anchoring in subcultures” as our loyalty to one lifestyle or aesthetic is not as strong.
“Brands doing well in this era understand that [different aesthetics and subcultures are] variations of what could very well be the same customer and they use a very strong coherent underpinning strategy as a platform to basically bounce off into this cultural tempo, which is much more ‘create, shed, create, shed.’”
Watch part one of Healey’s analysis via TikTok.