Gen Z and Baby Boomers are natural enemies. Like Scots and other Scots! (Sorry, we had to make that joke.)
But seriously, both generations love to rip on each other online, and sometimes in real life. Finally fed up with the Boomers calling younger generations lazy and entitled, Gen Z has been retaliating the way it knows best: memeing at them.
And that’s how “OK boomer” was born. Started as a clip on the social media platform TikTok as a dismissive response to Boomers, the line is now finding its home on apparel.
The most recognized design right now is even in that “Thank You” shopping bag design, which is for some reason the hottest pattern in the game.
the article is informative, but it mostly just made me want to buy an "ok boomer" sweatshirt…you hate to see ithttps://t.co/S0yJK8OHPS
— Nicole Clark (@nicalexiac) October 29, 2019
The New York Times, the Leading Authority On America’s Young People, has a good write-up of the OK boomer phenomenon, and also makes mention of the shopping bag design. Turns out the apparel is pretty darn popular:
The meme-to-merch cycle is nothing new, but unlike most novelty products, “ok boomer” merch is selling. Shannon O’Connor, 19, designed a T-shirt and hoodie with the phrase “ok boomer” written in the “thank you” style of a plastic shopping bag. She uploaded it to Bonfire, a site for selling custom apparel, with the tagline “Ok boomer have a terrible day.” After promoting the shirt on TikTok, she received more than $10,000 in orders.
“The older generations grew up with a certain mind-set, and we have a different perspective,” Ms. O’Connor said. “A lot of them don’t believe in climate change or don’t believe people can get jobs with dyed hair, and a lot of them are stubborn in that view. Teenagers just respond, ‘Ok, boomer.’ It’s like, we’ll prove you wrong, we’re still going to be successful because the world is changing.”
Ms. O’Connor is far from the only one cashing in. Hundreds of “ok boomer” products are for sale through on-demand shopping sites like Redbubble and Spreadshirt, where many young people are selling “ok boomer” phone cases, bedsheets, stickers, pins and more.
Until we can cross that generational divide and get along, unlike Scots and other Scots (damn Scots, they ruined Scotland), expect to see meme moments like this pick up steam on apparel in the future. After all, young people and their elders have been at each others’ throats since the beginning of time. It’s just that now young people have more methods of getting their messages across, and sometimes those messages end up on cool sweatshirts.
