The Escape Economy: Gen Z’s love of ‘unreality’

I recently did some interesting ethnographic work, immersing myself in a peripheral part of our culture. The Thrill Seeker. The Adrenaline Junkie. The Daredevil. The people who we watch with a heady mix of amazement, awe and horror… and then go back to our nicely stationary sofa in our nice warm living room.

What’s this got to do with anything? Well, I’ll start by quoting a very well-regarded UK Sky Diver I met who has done over 13,500 jumps in his 25-year career. When I called him crazy (I know, my moderation skills might need fine tuning), he retorted: “We aren’t the crazy ones. I see everyone working 9 to 5, living for 2 weeks in the summer where they can escape their lives. You are all crazy to me!”. Ouch. But once I’d taken the dagger out my heart, I realised he wasn’t wrong… but he wasn’t completely right either. Us normal folk try to ‘escape’ all the time!

The Power of Escapism

It’s not new news that we humans love a bit of escapism. Brands have been capitalising on that for decades. It starts young with Disney/ Pixar inviting us to escape to an abundance of magical worlds, and it touches our midlife crisis as AirBnB tells us we can ‘belong anywhere’.

But escapism has never been as culturally significant as it is today with Gen Z, where escapism is not just a luxury, but a necessary means of self-preservation, experimentation and development.

So how can brands show up in this new Escape Economy? Let’s look at three areas emerging as key marketing battlegrounds.

1. Immersion in Alternate Realities

Gen Z blurs the boundaries between real life, digital life, and imaginative identity spaces more than any generation before, and a core part of this is world building. Be it fan-cultivated communities, or fully crafted gaming universes, they promise belonging (through community, acceptance, identity experimentation) and control (through customisation, clear rules, influencing outcomes) that can often feel lacking IRL.

And so, Gen Z love brands that create ‘worlds’, not just products. These worlds (maybe ironically) have an authenticity that products alone struggle to own, and - because this cohort hates being ‘sold to’ - the fact they are entertainment-led, not ad-led, gives them greater meaning and right to play in their lives.

Some great examples of brands doing this right are: Fortnite collabs with Marvel, Nike, or Balenciaga; brand-owned worlds in Roblox; Secret Cinema; or the retail worlds of Heaven by Marc Jacobs (a Y2K fever dream!), Glossier or Gentle Monster.

2. Identity Escapism

Like escaping to alternate worlds, Gen Z uses products and digital spaces to temporarily ‘try on’ different identities. Today’s society means there is no longer pressure to be one consistent thing - in fact, multiplicity is the norm and likes, filters and avatars all encourage this. But importantly, this is not deception or fakery, it’s self-discovery. Gen Z don’t want brands to help them express themselves, they want brands to help them explore all the possible versions of themselves.

Tribute Brand is the ultimate in this, best explained by their website: “Their digital fashion is genderless, size-free, and waste-free. Physical collections are designed with a focus on minimal or zero waste. They have been recognised for reimagining fashion across digital and physical worlds”. Google them, and I hope to see you wearing it soon!

3. Escapist Content

Micro escapism is another big one, with micro digital escape at the core. However, this isn’t as straightforward as popping on TikTok during a meeting, it is about content specifically designed to help you escape. It is about leaning into absurdism, surreal humour and ‘unreality’ as a way of taking a psychological break from stress, overstimulation, and the heaviness of the real world. Raw, messy, weird content feels real, and brands who embrace the chaos immediately align themselves with this generation and show they can be trusted.

Duolingo is a great example of a brand embracing the chaos by breaking all the rules of typical brand behaviour. The mascot threatens users who don’t practice, it gets jealous when celebrities or users ignore it and it flirts with office staff. Or Ryan Air’s unhinged TikTok persona that leans into the jokes made about themselves - “Yes the seats are tight, but you paid £12”, or “Your bag will be checked”. The comments section speaks for itself!

What does this mean for the future of brands and market research?

What the Thrill Seekers taught me is that escapism isn’t about leaving life behind, it’s about finding a version of life that feels more vivid, controlled and meaningful. Gen Z have simply found their own paths to that feeling, and they’re doing it in ways that are rewriting the playbook for brands.

For brands, the opportunity is to support that instinct. Build worlds. Enable identity experiments. Lean into chaos with content that understands the emotional release it provides.

And for market research, the challenge is to catch up. Measuring fixed preferences and linear journeys simply doesn’t work anymore. We need methodologies that can stretch across digital realities, flexible identities, and the micro-escapes that shape everyday behaviour.

Crucially, brands and researchers must evolve from observers to participants in these alternate spaces. Only then can we understand what Gen Z are truly looking for, and why they keep looking elsewhere.