Hello dearest subscribers! Welcome to this little corner of the internet, where I—Ann-Marie Alcántara, former internet culture and marketing reporter at The Wall Street Journal—dissect trends I’m seeing into something useful for your 9-to-5 (or even your 5-to-9). 

Every few weeks, it feels we’ve hit a fever pitch of brand merchandise and corporate swag that someone can buy. And then, something catches my interest and feels like a must-have. 

A few weeks ago, I really wanted the Year of the Horse plush keychain from Starbucks. And before that, after days of seeing it across my X feed, I too started feeling FOMO about not owning a “thinking” cap from Anthropic. 

Then there’s the merch I’ve owned throughout the years that I remember fondly. I once owned a pair of Allbirds sneakers from the 2018 collaboration between the shoe company and Shake Shack. And more recently, I bought a Crocs case for my Touchland sanitizer. 

It turns out I’m not alone (nor suffering from a case of impulse shopping). In a December 2024 Confidant/Catamaran/Vytal study, 45% of Gen Z, millennial and Gen X Americans feel more connected to niche communities than mainstream culture. 

The study, which surveyed 1,000 people between the ages 18-59, looked into how people’s interests—no matter how mainstream it may feel—have turned into cult-like communities. Eighty-eight percent of adults across those generations say they’re engaged in niche communities, with 51% finding that feeling part of a brand’s community is important. 

It’s partly to explain why the merchification of everything continues to take off and why we’re in an era of endless opportunities to buy something branded. 

Fast food chains are all over this. Dunkin’ once sold out of an adult onesie that was part of its holiday collection in 2021…and the hits haven’t stopped since. This past year, the company promoted its Spider Donut with a plush keychain, t-shirts, a sweatshirt and much more. During the holidays, the company released munchkins merchandise (including a book). Most of it appears to have sold out. 

The consumer frenzy is reviving corporate swag as well, especially among AI companies. Anthropic’s “thinking” caps, given away during its pop-up in New York, struck a nerve with people (and some even flew out to get their hands on them). OpenAI seemingly opened up its employee swag to the masses in December. And NVIDIA will soon join them, as the tech behemoth is hiring an art director for gear and merchandise. 

These collections, drops and pieces of swag stand out to consumers (and users) so much because it emphasizes a sense of community, some exclusivity and a nod to the absurdity of it all. The Spider Donut has been around since 2017 but after a third redesign in 2024, the company doubled down on its Halloween-only treat for someone who loves the holiday and the silliness of loving a ridiculous edible spider. 

It also helps that there’s a lot of types of merch to buy, such as clothes, bag charms, tote bags, hats and more. People are given a chance to choose how they want to represent the brand. 

And in an age where culture gets a bit more monotonous, these bits of pieces of swag feel like something tangible to a person and a IYKYK moment to anyone who sees them walking on the street wearing it. 

Call it merchmaxxing if you want. Or, call it a status symbol for consumers who feel squeezed by the economy and see owning something like this as part of “little treat” culture. 

After all, if Stop & Shop can make plushies about Marty, its in-store robot, what’s stopping you from figuring out your brand’s merch moment?

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