Cringe is cool now (or effective, anyway)

"Fiber supplements brand BelliWelli took a risk with its cringey TikToks, including deeply uncomfortable celebrity interactions, and it paid off. The approach netted the brand 1B+ views and grew revenue 405% between 2023 and 2024. Food brand Natural Heaven promoted the launch of its products at NYC's Fairway Markets by sending two employees dressed as boxes of pasta and rice prancing down the store's aisles. Blueland - a sustainable cleaning company whose CEO regularly films herself pulling stunts like cleaning toilets at Costco (one of the brand's retailers) - did $200m+ in sales last year, up 40% YoY."

"Audiences, particularly younger ones, are over perfection and tired of ads that read as ads, which can be boring or easily drowned out. Cringiness, in contrast, can be relatable, interesting, and can humanize a brand. "What makes cringe work is that it feels authentic, self-aware and low-stakes... It doesn't take itself too seriously," according to communications expert Leeron Walter via Forbes. "In an online landscape flooded with sales pitches, the honest awkwardness is disarming.""

Intentionally cringey, low-fi marketing captures attention by breaking from polished, overtly promotional content and by humanizing brands through awkward, relatable moments. Several companies used uncomfortable celebrity interactions, in-store mascots, and retail stunts to generate massive views and rapid revenue growth. Cringe resonates because it feels authentic, self-aware, and low-stakes, offering a disarming alternative amid a landscape saturated with sales pitches. The approach particularly appeals to younger audiences and can serve as a cost-effective strategy against rising digital advertising costs when aligned with brand identity and executed authentically.

Read at Thehustle