If Deep Thinking Is A Luxury, How Will Everyone Afford To Think?

According to a recent New York Times article, “thinking has become a luxury good.”

Families (kids in particular) of lower socioeconomic backgrounds claim to spend, on average, two more hours on their screens than those in the middle and upper classes. And with an endless stream of brainrot flooding social feeds, it’s become the intellectual equivalent of junk food.

The same way cheap, fast, unhealthy food options have become a go-to for lower income families –– negatively impacting the overall health of these communities –– we’re seeing the same thing in the form of content consumption.

There’s an irony when you think of all the tech moguls who send their young children to private schools that have strict no-tech policies. Tuition for these schools reach near $40,000 per year –– barely the median household income of the lower middle class.

These institutions push for intellectualism, deep thinking and creativity in children to help them develop empathy and social skills that they could never acquire from simply swiping up all day. Not to mention the benefit of having an au pair or a nanny engage with your kids in healthy, stimulating ways.

Now, we’re not shaming those who’ve reached financial success and can afford these privileges, we’re simply stating the sad, unfair reality.

A recurring theme in our articles this month is brand responsibility. Companies are in such a race for relevance that sometimes they can lose sight of what’s wrong or right. 

We believe we’re at a critical time in content marketing –– a tipping point. Brands can continue to follow the trend of creating bite-sized content to cater to these ever-decreasing attention spans –– or they could reshape the way content is consumed.

1950s ad maverick Howard Gossage famously said, “nobody reads ads. People read what interests them, and sometimes it’s an ad.” This quote is more relevant today than ever before, and it presents an opportunity (and a challenge) for brands to push for more intellectually stimulating content.

All brands have an opportunity to connect with audiences on a deeper, more impactful level that goes way beyond just throwing heaps of short content at their ever-dwindling attention spans. In order to create a deeper thinking, more empathetic world –– we marketers need to embrace our roles as cultural influencers and rethink the way we produce content.

Check out how we tap into deep cultural insights to connect brands with new audiences here.