Just like instant noodles, there are things we can cook up in seconds with AI that would take us forever to create from scratch. A podcast hosted by cats. A ‘photo’ of a Roman centurion doomscrolling. An article by a fake author about a fake product with fake glowing reviews. Never mind ultra-processed food – we are living in an era of ultra-processed content.
Thanks to AI, the possibilities for online content are endless. And that – for some consumers – is the problem.
An analogue rebellion is gaining momentum, characterised by a wave of nostalgia for simpler technology – think vinyl, CDs, camcorders and turn-of-the-millennium mobile phones – and a rejection of the virtual sphere with its AI-conjured reality, social media and streaming platforms.
The backlash may be a drop in the digital ocean, but it should ring alarm bells for brands. Just when ChatGPT has given us the superpower of cheap, easy, high-volume content, audiences are branding it “AI slop” and going on digital detoxes.
Here, we look at four drivers of the analogue rebellion and how brands can learn from them to win back the digital dropouts.
Overwhelm
Dr Rupy Aulja has two mobile phones. During the week, he uses his ‘cocaine’ phone – a device loaded with dopamine-stimulating social media and streaming apps. On weekends, he switches to his ‘kale’ phone – a basic device with access only to calling, text, maps and internet search. By reducing his phone usage, the TV doctor aims to give his nervous system a break from the constant stimulation of modern digital life, reducing mental overwhelm.
He’s not alone. On average, we check our phones 144 times a day, according to screen time management app TimeOut. And the growth of tools designed to help people unplug suggests that many of us feel overwhelmed by the daily assault of distracting apps and notifications. Three out of four Gen Z users report spending more time on their phones than they believe is preferable and 41% are actively trying to cut back on usage, with other generations not far behind, a 2026 study by SQ Magazine found.
What this means for brands:
- Publish less, but better: You can’t compete with AI for volume, so compete for value, putting your effort into well-researched, well-structured, original and meaningful content that people will want to engage with and share, despite shorter attention spans.
- Design for depth not dopamine: Swap rage-bait headlines, artificial urgency and polarising copy for deep, measured and thought-provoking narrative, and prize success metrics such as meaningful interactions and conversion efficiency over impressions.
Mistrust
Flower seeds of the rare ‘Black Bleeding Heart’ plant are readily available online. There’s just one problem. The plant does not exist. While scammers have long been able to manipulate images to market fake goods, AI has supercharged their capabilities.
Even with the best intent, AI-powered misinformation is proliferating, with alarming implications. In January 2026, Google removed its AI overviews for “what is the normal range for liver blood tests?” and “what is the normal range for liver function tests?” after a Guardian investigation found that people were being given inaccurate information that could put them at risk.
No wonder misinformation and disinformation are ranked the world’s fifth biggest cause for concern in the World Economic Forum’s 2026 Global Risks Report, with people under the age of 40 particularly worried. Every week, more than six in 10 people question the truth of something they see online and only 21% feel highly confident identifying AI-generated images, text or videos, according to a survey by the Human Clarity Institute of 1,000 people in six English-speaking countries.
What this means for brands:
- Get your facts straight: Cross-reference all claims in your content, finding the original source wherever possible to check that it is accurate and up to date. Quote only credible sources and provide links within your content so that readers can make up their own minds.
- Respect ethical boundaries: Make sure you have a responsible AI content governance system in place, with human oversight at every stage and clear rules around privacy, transparency, deepfakes and non-consensual imagery. Take particular care with high-stakes AI use cases such as customer service chatbots.
Fear
It used to take Coca-Cola a year to produce their Christmas commercials. Now, the drinks giant can wrap them up in about a month, Chief Marketing Officer Manolo Arroyo recently told the Wall Street Journal.
Perhaps that’s why a heritage brand that prides itself on selling “the real thing” had no qualms about running an AI-generated advertising campaign for the second year in a row in 2025, despite widespread outrage on social media.
“Nothing says Christmas quite like ‘Dad got fired because AI replaced him to do animation’,” one person commented on YouTube.
The backlash does not appear to have hurt Coca-Cola’s bottom line so far, but it highlights the fear this technology is stoking, particularly that it will put humans out of work. Seven out of 10 Brits and two out of three Americans on low incomes believe they will be left behind by AI, the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer found. Those on middle incomes are not much more optimistic.
What this means for brands
- Balance efficiency with reputation: Consider the long-term reputational impact, not just short-term efficiency gains, of conspicuously using AI instead of human workers – especially if you’re a luxury or heritage brand.
- Avoid AI hype messaging: Position AI as an accessible, practical tool that helps people do their jobs better rather than in futuristic, effusive terms that could demoralise your own people, such as “the AI revolution is here!” or “We’re building an AI-first future”.
Detachment
“Kids aren’t speaking to each other anymore,” lamented Friends star Jennifer Aniston in 2022, expressing her distaste for social media.
That same year, writer Cory Doctorow coined the term ‘enshittification’ to describe how free online platforms such as Twitter and Facebook inevitably degrade the user experience over time, allowing ads and bots to replace friend and family interaction.
But critically, 2022 was also the year that time on social media peaked, according to an analysis of 250,000 adults in more than 50 countries. The research, carried out for the Financial Times by audience insights company GWI, found that adults were spending almost 10% less time on social media by the end of 2024 than they were in 2022. And people were increasingly scrolling to “fill time” or “follow celebrities” rather than keep up with friends, meet new people or share their opinions, the study found.
Even dating app Tinder is worried about this sense of detachment and is running more in-person group events in a bid to win back lost users. “Gen Z wants to connect,” Match Group CEO Spencer Rascoff insisted recently. “They don’t want more matches, they want better ones. More meaningful. More tailored. More real.”
What this means for brands
- Show your frontline face: Balance high-level brand narrative with helpful nitty gritty by inviting your frontline experts to step forward and share the personal experiences and insights that give your value proposition real-world meaning.
- Treasure your distinctive voice: Authenticity is the new scarcity, so make sure your brand’s tone of voice complements what you bring to the world and that your people are properly trained to apply it consistently.
Beware the beige
Just as ultra-processed food makes up more than half of calories in the Western diet, so ultra-processed content now dominates the internet, pushing some audiences towards the content equivalent of wholefoods – real-life conversation and tangible tech.
Get in touch with Stratton Craig to see how our authentic storytelling skills can help you reconnect with the analogue rebels.
