As Americans receive more economic news that is only furthering concerns that the country is already in or is heading into a recession on top of record high inflation, they’re probably going to be looking for ways to save money.
One segment on NBC’s “Today” on Friday highlighted a way they spend a lot more on cookies.
Co-host Jill Martin brought in cookies from Last Crumb and noted that they have become an “Instagram, social media craze.”
“It’s $140 a dozen,” she began.
Co-hosts Jacob Soboroff and Sheinelle Jones both interjected to express their shock at the prices of the treats.
“That’s $11.66 a cookie. But they say you’re supposed to cut them in fours,” Martin said, adding, “So it’s really $4 a person.”
After trying a sliver of a cookie, Jones exclaimed, “This might be the best cookie I’ve ever had in my life.”
Watch the video below:
🍪 @JillMartin brought @SheinelleJones and @jacobsoboroff a treat; the sweetest way to start the weekend! 🍪 pic.twitter.com/BLmJdeZpDE
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 29, 2022
One Twitter user commented, “Nearing a recession and [TODAY show] is featuring $140 per dozen cookies when people can’t even pay for groceries.”
They added the hashtags “poor programming” and “out of touch.”
Nearing a recession and @TODAYshow is featuring $140 per dozen cookies when people can't even pay for groceries. #poorprogramming #outoftouch
— CES (@cshanko3218) July 29, 2022
Perhaps the only thing in this segment the average American could relate to right now, as U.S. inflation reached a 40-year-high in June, is dividing the cookie up.
Maybe some magic dough and special ingredients are used for baking such delicious cookies. However, it’s difficult to fathom why they would cost $140.
As Martin noted at the beginning of the clip, the cookies are a “social media craze.”
If you needed any more reasons to look at social media and the effect it has on its users with skepticism, here you go.
Too many people, especially millennials and younger, were already going to grow up bombarded by advertising campaigns trying to sell them the “cool” thing.
Now we have Instagram and other social media outlets where users are bombarded with ads that seem more organic for “luxury” products that don’t even make any sense — like an $11 cookie — but look cool and are photographed with great lighting to make them look extra appealing.
They see people smiling, maybe posing with a cookie next to their face with the packaging clearly visible looking like they’re having a great time, and they think, “Man, I’ve been seeing these all over the place. They must really be worth it.”
And while the social media companies are collecting users’ data, they’re taking steps to make it easier and more seamless for users to go from looking at a product to buying it without having to feel inconvenienced by going through a bunch of extra steps to buy the product.
In some cases these days, a purchase can be done in a matter of seconds if they have their bank account information and shipping address saved ahead of time.
Without a massive recognition that the users of social media are literally the product, this vicious cycle will just keep sucking money out of peoples’ wallets.