Millennial or Gen Z? Brands lean into differences in marketing trend Greta Cross, USA TODAYWed, May 6, 2026 at 6:50 PM UTC 0 Millennial or Gen Z? A new social media trend has bigname brands showing how they would market to millennial and Gen Z audiences, with the latter containing fewer words and many more emojis. Applebee's, Morton Salt, BaskinRobbins and Petco are just a handful of the brands that have hopped on the trend. In a social media post on May 4, Petco shared a photo of two different marketing copies, one created by a "Millennial PR Team" and the other by a "gen z social team.
Millennial or Gen Z? Brands lean into differences in marketing trend
Greta Cross, USA TODAYWed, May 6, 2026 at 6:50 PM UTC
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Millennial or Gen Z?
A new social media trend has big-name brands showing how they would market to millennial and Gen Z audiences, with the latter containing fewer words and many more emojis. Applebee's, Morton Salt, Baskin-Robbins and Petco are just a handful of the brands that have hopped on the trend.
In a social media post on May 4, Petco shared a photo of two different marketing copies, one created by a "Millennial PR Team" and the other by a "gen z social team."
The millennial copy reads: "For the pet parent who wants the very best for their fur babies. At Petco, you'll find thoughtfully curated products, trusted nutrition and expert-backed care to support every stage of their life. Your fur babies deserve quality you can feel good about. The doggos are going to love it." The text is long, detailed but still contains a bit of playfulness with the mention of "doggos."
The Gen Z copy, on the other hand, reads: "be so fr (for real) they need another toy" with several star and face emojis filling the space. Much more succinct, the copy is like a text sent between two friends. It better represents how members of Gen Z may converse with one another.
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Zaxby's also hopped on the trend, promoting its Cinco de Mayo deal on May 4.
The millennial copy of the advert outlines Zaxby's complete deal, including when it is available, along with some introductory text to tell the reader more about the brand.
The Gen Z copy is short and sweet: "zadd a zuesadilla zor zix zollars zabes," replacing all the first letters in the sentence with a "z." An image of the chain's quesadilla is also adorned with eyes, lips and hands, seemingly giving the menu item a saucy personality.
In a social media post made on May 4, 2026, Zaxby's compared two marketing styles for millennial and Gen Z audiences. The former, is much more text heavy, with the latter, shorter and full of many more emojis.
"We leaned into this trend because it was both timely and still early in adoption among brand accounts, giving Zaxby's an opportunity to stand out in-feed with culturally relevant content," Zaxby's Brand Marketing Vice President Ali Ghosh told USA TODAY via email. "At the same time, we had a timely message to deliver ... and saw the 'Millennial PR Team vs. Gen Z Social Team' trend as the perfect format to communicate the offer in a way that felt native to Instagram and Facebook, trend-driven and highly shareable."
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AMC Theatres and Keurig Dr Pepper also participated in the trend, using a plethora of dazzling emojis and short texts to lure in a Gen Z crowd.
In a social media post shared on May 5, 2026, AMC Theatres shared an advert for AMC Stubs A-List, geared toward millennial and Gen Z audiences.
Describing the Keurig K-Mini Mate Plus to a Gen Z audience, Keurig Dr Pepper wrote: "she's tiny but she eats." In Gen Z slang, "eats" or "ate" is a sign of admiration. The miniature coffee machine performs well, so it "eats," the company said.
"This trend clicked because it highlights a tension most brands are still catching up to: People don’t engage with 'perfectly-curated' brand language, they engage with what feels real," Alysse Schneider, Keurig Dr Pepper's social media manager, told USA TODAY via email. "The gap between those two (generations) is what makes this so relatable."
In a social media post made on May 3, 2026, Keurig Dr Pepper shared dual adverts, targeting millennial and Gen Z audiences.What marketing experts are saying
Several marketing experts have taken to social media platforms like LinkedIn to break down the trend.
Hallie Santos, a community manager at a Phoenix ad agency, echoed Schneider's comments.
"The joke is simple; one side is polished, benefit-led brand copy, and the other is the same message translated into internet language: short, to the point, and funny," Santos wrote in a LinkedIn post. "We’ve seen versions of this specific Gen Z social media language in trends before, but this one makes the contrast even clearer with a side-by-side comparison."
But social media consultant Jon-Stephen Stansel isn't a fan. As a self-described "elder millennial social media marketer," he described the brand-forward trend as "lazy and unoriginal marketing."
"Seriously, can we not perpetuate false generational stereotypes in our advertising?" Stansel said in a LinkedIn post, critiquing the trend. "Does anyone besides marketers actually get this sort of self-referential meta-advertising? Does your target audience really care about the difference between your PR and social teams?"
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Millennial or Gen Z? Brands play into differences for marketing trend
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Published: May 6, 2026 at 10:00PM on Source: RON MAG
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