A real drag

Credit: Irina Iriser / Unsplash

When things are changing rapidly, many of us cling to something old or familiar to moor ourselves against the storm. One such anchor for Gen Z may be, of all things, smoking.

Ironically, even Scientific American, which discusses the trend at length, admits this is "more of a vibe" than anything backed by data. On the other hand, data on topics like this tend to be lagging and there is definitely evidence of smoking being glamorized on social media and in movies. Experts in the field are concerned.

An Instagram account called Cigfluencers, which depicts celebrities and other beautiful people smoking, has more than 100,000 followers. Depictions of smoking in movies are on the rise. And some hard evidence is just beginning to emerge.

No one seems to know why this is happening. It could be correlated with an increase in vaping. It could be good, old-fashioned rebellion. It could be a longing for community with other smokers as they all stand huddled together outside a building getting in a few puffs. It could be associated with a general nihilism coming from fears about the future of the planet, AI, job prospects, and the societal chaos this generation has endured all their lives.

This would be useful for a brand to understand. Tobacco companies obviously should want to understand it to get more people smoking, but it seems like this would be something any consumer brand would want to explore.

What are the emotional payoffs for smoking? What is the societal tension that makes smoking relevant for this generation? And how can our brand tap into that, even if we're not peddling cigarettes or anything especially harmful? Perhaps there is a more wholesome and less destructive way for Gen Z to fill the gap that cigarettes increasingly fill.