If you’ve ever binged on Doritos and had an all-nighter playing video games, the following information will probably come as no surprise.
Xbox, PlayStation and Doritos are three of the coolest and most recognisable brands on the planet for Gen Z, feeding into the endearing stereotype of what it means to be part of the iGeneration in a modern world.
Google released a survey called, “It’s Lit: A Guide To What Teens Thing Is Cool“, and the results are validating for those of us — regardless of birth year — that have spent years trying to justify our gaming obsession to loved ones.
It’s now official: gaming — and pretty much anything to do with online entertainment — is “cool”.
So how does Google define “cool”? According to the document, it’s an “indication of what people pay attention to, what gets them excited, and can often act as a manifestation of their hope and dreams”.
I guess that makes sense.
The survey asked 1,000 teenagers to rank brands by coolness. Rounding out the top 10 is YouTube at No.1, followed by Netflix, Google, Xbox, Oreo, GoPro, PlayStation, Doritos, Nike, and, for some reason, Chrome.
That a browser actually finds itself among the “coolest” brands on the planet raises some questions about Google’s “cool” gauge in this instance, but who cares when our favourite hobby is in the top 10? I’m a little disappointed Mountain Dew and KFC didn’t make the cut, though.
What I’m sure will tick off PlayStation diehards is that Xbox came out on top in the coolstakes at No.4, with Sony’s gaming brand coming in at No.7. I’m sure we can all agree, however, that it probably won’t hit very hard at PlayStation HQ considering the current sales charts. They’re both in the top 10, and aren’t separated by much.
Nintendo came in at a respectable 24th, healthily within the “cool” gauge. EA Sports didn’t rank quite as well, however, falling within the bottom quarter of brands surveyed, worryingly close to the “least cool” benchmark, which is where the likes of Vice, The Wall Street Journal and WhatsApp sit.
