Issue #42: Away is crushing it, and is anyone else tired of all the gift guides?
I, for one, am 🙋♀️
Hi! I took last week off to fully unplug for Thanksgiving. I hope everyone had a great holiday and is now prepared for the next three weeks to absolutely fly by, as they always do.
Since this week’s issue is a bit more abstract than usual, I’m kicking us off with some fun brand stunts for you! I’m loving everything that luggage brand Away is doing on social (perhaps so much so that I just ordered their carry-on??). They engaged with the viral celebrity look-alike contest trend by sending Away luggage to select look-alike winners (Jeremy Allen White, Timothée Chalamet, and Dev Patel). The caption “Even lookalikes travel with the real thing” ties the stunt back to their product perfectly. A great example of a brand engaging with a seemingly unrelated trend in a smart, opportune, non-cringe way.
And yesterday, Away posted a 2024 Wrapped: Away Social Media Manager Edition full of gems like Got called an intern 61 times in the comments and $774 in expenses were rejected by finance. Brands, take notes!!
Okay, let’s get into the deep dive for this week! Earlier this week, I posted a TikTok about the abundance of holiday gift guides right now. It seems like everywhere I turn, I’m getting hit by a gift guide for every possible character in my life. My best friend’s boyfriend’s sister? Gift guide. My uncle’s coworker’s cat? Gift Guide.
I’m mostly kidding, but in all seriousness: How are we feeling about all of the gift guides?
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As I was editing this issue, I received an edition of Substack Reads titled, "Gift guides, unstacked.” They write that “many just seem overwhelmed by how many gift guides there are” this year. Same girl, same.
There is something simultaneously so enjoyable and yet so annoying about gift guides. While I do love to see what my favorite influencers are asking for or purchasing this holiday season, I’m also getting a teensy bit tired of the abundance of recommendations. Sure, I might be able to put a gift guide to use for a distant friend or coworker, but for most of my friends and family, no gift guide is ever going to tell me what to get them for the holidays – they just aren’t sentimental/specific/unique enough. And correct me if I’m wrong, but I think most people would agree with me.
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So why do we like gift guides so much?
Gift guides are aspirational. I have come to regard them less as recommendations for what I should buy, and more as reflections of the guide’s creator themself. They’re not so much telling me what to buy as they are showing me what they like/want/use in their own lives. In this way, gift guides are more than recommendations – they’re often signifiers of lifestyle and status.
And as Influencing 101 tells us, when creators whom we admire showcase a glamorous, manicured lifestyle and attribute this manicured existence to products, then we’re convinced that we too can have that same life if we just purchase those same items. We think: If I buy the items on that list, then I can get closer to that person. Maybe I can be similar to that person… or even become them. Which, of course, is never the case.
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And I don’t think it matters whether we’re buying the recommended products for ourselves or others. It’s all packaged under one big falsehood that buying a thing will equate to a lifestyle akin to the creator’s (whether that thing is a gift for your boyfriend or for yourself).
So why are gift guides popping up everywhere we look this year?
I mean, part of it is just social media. But I also think that recommendation culture is at an all-time high. There are so many ways to share information now – social media, apps like Beli and LTK, etc. Recommendation culture thrives off of accessible information sharing routes. And gift guides are a product of heightened recommendation culture, particularly during the most consumerist time of year.
We’re in a time where buying stuff is more accessible and more common than ever. We have an abundance of ways to purchase more stuff (online, in-store, at the click of a button, etc.) and we also have more disposable income to buy more stuff. On top of that, social media and influencer culture always makes us feel like we need more.
At the same time, I’m seeing some de-influencing and minimalism on my feed. I mean, Emma Chamberlain just posted a video about getting rid of a bunch of stuff after years of buying more and more clothing and sharing clothing hauls with her followers.
Have a great rest of your week! xx
it only took a few for me to realise I wasn't going to buy anything mentioned bc a) most were out of my budget and b) I just don't need all the stuff they're talking about. had to press pause on consumerism like 3 guides in.
I’ve found some online gift guides to her super helpful in the past - like if I’m buying for my stepdad who is a handyman (I know next to nothing about tools/DIY) - they can be useful. But agree that they’ve become too everywhere right now that their specialness wears thin.