This week, I appeared on VRT News to discuss kidulting, a concept we previously highlighted in 2010. Our parents often encouraged us to mature, and we are doing so, but in an increasingly playful manner.

Welcome to the era of kidulting, where adults consciously choose to incorporate childlike elements into their adult lives. This is not Peter Pan syndrome, but a strategic form of self-care. The term ‘kidult’ originated in the 1950s in American television, where it was used as a slightly condescending term for adults who watched children's programs. Today, the meaning has shifted: it is no longer an exception, but a widely accepted cultural phenomenon. In a world full of pressure to perform, inflation, and geopolitical instability, people seek peace in the familiar. Research shows that nostalgia strengthens social bonds and contributes to self-continuity, the feeling that your past and present come together in a meaningful way. Whether it's Lego building sets, glitter Crocs, a digital Tamagotchi, or an OG K3 concert full of thirty-somethings in rainbow outfits, these are not excesses, but emotional anchors.

The phenomenon has become an integral part of the economy. According to research by the NPD Group, 58% of adults buy toys for themselves. During the pandemic, the global market for “adult toys” grew by 37%. One in four euros in the European toy sector now comes from adults. Brands are responding to this with pastel tech (bubblegum-colored keyboards, plush covers), Ikea's Lego line, McDonald's Happy Meals for grown-ups, Tony's Chocolonely with Willy Wonka-style tickets, and collectible cultures such as the Japanese Sunny Angels and Chinese Labubu, small, gentle figures that combine comfort, identity, and dopamine. Both are wildly popular with millennials and Gen Z, thanks in part to scarcity, unboxing pleasure, and visual cuteness. This is no longer child's play; it is a carefully designed emotional economy.

Social media reinforces all of this: it blurs generational boundaries, accelerates trends, and creates instant communities. Gen Z aesthetics, K-pop visuals, kawaii symbolism, nostalgic memes, and “cute culture” are widely shared by people in their twenties and forties. Youth codes are no longer age-bound; they are collectively adopted. Kidulting is no longer a niche identity, but a widely supported cultural movement in which gentleness, playfulness, and irony are considered new forms of adulthood. In behavioral science terms: it is a reaction to an overstimulated reality, an emotional strategy for stability.

For brands, this means that if you want to stay relevant, you have to dare to play along. Not to appear childish, but to connect with a generation that values emotion, memory, and recognition more than status or functionality. Playing is not stupid. It is thoughtful. It is survival, connection, and creating meaning. Because ultimately, you are not selling a product. You are selling a feeling, a warm memory.

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