Chill Seekers

Alcohol and drugs were frequently consumed with the goal of breaking free from the mundanity of every day life. Now, conversely, everyday life feels overly stimulating and emotionally draining, with 62% of US adults finding the current political climate a significant source of stress and 1 in 5 of UK young people disagreeing that life is ‘really worth living’.

As a result, the pursuit of daily hedonism is becoming about achieving serenity, detaching from the world in a way that doesn’t harm our mental health like a hangover does. This is reflected in the proliferation of cannabis, with people pursuing a mellow, relaxed pleasure.

This is coupled with the growing desire to stay at home, with US Millennials going out half as much as the general population, sometimes dubbed ‘the homebody economy’.

A prevailing feeling of economic uncertainty and political instability is also driving people to find more simple pleasures in the present. In South Korea, this is called ‘shibal biyong’, translating to a ‘fuck-it expense’ - pleasurable spending that helps you get through the day.

As hedonism is about maximising pleasure and minimising pain, we’re moving into a time when tranquillity is a primary goal, creating a little blissed out world where we can escape the outside turmoil.

Bliss by Dosist

Dosist is a line of sleek cannabis vaporiser pens that release a controlled dose, with specific blends to address different need and mood states.

Their bliss formula helps you achieve ‘just the right amount of good’, balancing psychoactive and calming components to grant a state of serenity.

Burrow

Burrow, an online custom furniture store, caters to the growing ‘homebody economy’ with campaigns that emphasise the pleasure of staying in with slogans like ‘no plans are my plans’.

They’re positioned as an antithesis to Millennial burnout and a social media fuelled compulsion to always have exciting plans, promoting lazing and napping instead.

Lisa Frank Hotel

This pop-up hotel room in LA is designed using the Lisa Frank aesthetic – a brand of luminously colourful school supplies popular in the '90s.

This room is aimed at '90s kids, spiriting them away from their daily lives to a more idyllic time of childhood.

Personal bliss cocoons will be our new escapism.

As more people opt to stay home and disconnect, they’ll invest more time and effort into crafting a personal cocoon for hedonistic hibernation. Spending on home décor, delivery services and at-home entertainment will rise.

Moving away from alcohol, popularity of CBD drinks and other calming substances will continue to rise.

As introversion shifts to becoming the new norm, public socialising will be a less natural part of people’s everyday habits. As was once the case with introversion, extroversion will get a makeover, with meeting new people and socialising becoming the next movement in self-care.

With staying in becoming more alluring, more brands will shift to focusing on in-home offerings.

Out-of-home brands and spaces will need to replicate the simple pleasures of home to compete. Expect dressed down comfort bars, pyjama cinemas and cosy marijuana lounges.

Food and drink innovation will also reflect this move towards intense blissfulness, with more potent CBD and new ingredients appearing.

Our recent SIGNALS: report on Tomorrow’s Hedonism explores ‘Chill Seekers' and three more signals of change that are shaping consumers’ pursuit of pleasure.

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