What’s the Big Dill?
Teens are eating pickles straight from the jar, Pinterest claims dill green is the color of the moment, and pickle-flavored everything is flying off shelves—from chips to lip balm. We already knew acquired tastes were popular. Think of the way oysters, caviar, and tinned fish are dominating TikTok. But pickles? Pickles have achieved something none of those ever could: mass obsession.
They’re affordable, a little offbeat, and allegedly great for gut health.
But Gen Z isn’t walking around saying hot girls eat pickles, or launching pickle startups in the name of probiotics and gut health. Pickles are a personality trait.
Yes, wellness might be a small part of it, given how focused Gen Z is on their overall health—but more than anything, it’s about finding connection through weirdly specific tastes. Asking for extra pickles, doing a pickleback shot with your friends, posting a pickle muckbang, or creating audios all for the love of pickles proves it extends beyond the love of taste and into the need to find more people who love the same things you do.
Even if it is just an aged cucumber.
Reading is Hot (If It’s a Nutrition Label)
Turns out, Gen Z is reading nutrition labels more than summer reading lists. But they’re not counting calories the way past generations did.
Gen Z might be skipping summer reading lists, but they’re reading the backs of snack packages like it’s required homework. Not to count calories — that’s a Millennial thing.
They're scanning for protein content and side-eyeing ingredient lists.. In the era of TikTok wellness, that’s what qualifies as “healthy.”
Fitness influencers aren’t just sharing what they eat in a day, they’re also praising high-protein foods, and canceling anything with too many unpronounceable ingredients. And their followers are right there with them.
It looks like the goal is fewer chemicals and a more balanced diet. But let’s be real: the quiet outcome of this label obsession is a very specific aesthetic — lean, toned, and perfectly filtered for the SkinnyTok era, where body positivity has been quietly replaced by a ferocious brand of diet culture. One that wears matching sets and hits Pilates at 6 AM.
What’s on the back of the box matters just as much as the front…maybe more. If it’s ultra-processed or low on protein, it’s a no. But 15g of protein, low sugar, and “clean” ingredients? Straight in the cart.
The First Day of Class = A Soft Launch of Your Vibe
Because college students aren’t just showing up. They’re setting the tone, one outfit at a time.
Turns out, picking a first-day outfit isn’t just a thing for middle schoolers trying to impress their crush. College students are thinking about it too. A lot.
In the college world, clothes aren’t just about comfort. (Though 54% say that is their top priority.) They’re also about saying something — about who you are, what your vibe is, and who you want to sit next to in lecture.
As one 18 Y/O from Spring, TX told us, “I want it to represent my style and attract people who have similar tastes.”
The challenge? Budgets.
35% say they’re working with $100 or less for back-to-school fits. And since most major sales drop right before school starts, there’s not a ton of time to plan.
But if there’s one thing Gen Z knows how to do, it’s stretch a dollar and serve a look. Nearly half are hitting up thrift stores, where they can shop by the pound and vintage shops. 42% are filling carts on sites like ASOS and Urban Outfitters.
What are they most hyped to wear?
42%: sneakers
39%: jewelry
35%: dresses or skirts
Whether it’s new or thrifted, affordable or splurged, the first-day outfit is a statement that counts.
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