Andres Zambrano Bravo is a Berlin-based freelance journalist who loves to ask why. He loves puzzles and seeks answers to social phenomena and trends, helping researchers, companies, and artists to also find their voice along the way. When not annoying people with questions, you can find him spinning records in one of Berlin’s smoky venues.

Following years of pandemic-era leniency, institutional authorities are coming down hard on individual freedoms. Despite nine in ten office workers saying they don’t want to return to old ways of working, 70% of companies globally are mandating a return to the workplace. Meanwhile, reselling old clothes and concert tickets burgeoned into profitable side hustles for millions across the world, only for governments to start taxing sellers on their profits. Even online, where people had grown accustomed to a borderless existence, they’re having to grapple with new safety regulations that restrict what they can see online and where they can see it.

As the global cost of living crisis continues to determine people’s behaviours across everything from their careers to their shopping habits and personal relationships, people are growing hyper-aware of the capitalist systems upholding the status quo. With that awareness comes disappointment and cynicism – according to the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer, 59% of people trust businesses to integrate innovation into society, compared to just 50% who say the same for governments. No longer feeling supported by social structures, people increasingly believe it’s up to individuals to take care of themselves within a broken world order. As this belief takes hold in society, people’s relationships with power, authority, and morality are shifting.

People are getting strategic in all aspects of their lives to carve out new modes of freedom and individual gain. Having to exist within the larger-than-life systems, people can’t ignore the status quo – they need food on the table and have bills to pay – but they’re gradually realising they can subvert it. From using ‘algospeak’ to evade Big Tech’s censorship to secretly working two jobs or using AI to get ahead, people are finding innovative ways to make systems work for them – and not the other way around. They’re channelling their disillusion into subversion, finding power in defiance and agency in loopholes. This has given rise to anti-heroes, fraudsters, and tricksters becoming new role models for those seeking to inject a sense of irreverent joy and playfulness into a challenging reality.

The hacking mindset is rising across sectors. People are ready to hack their bodies, from quick-fix body modifications in beauty to influencers and digital platforms offering unlicensed, unregulated medication and treatments, including abortion pills, marijuana, and Wegovy imitators. They’re hacking their pleasures and entertainment by settling on luxury dupes and pirated content and escaping the renting trap by becoming permanent sofa surfers, setting up modern communes, or living with their parents.

Gaming the system is emerging as a way to have your cake and eat it too. As people learn to idolise professional scammers, don office punk attire, and default to digital piracy, breaking the rules is on trend. When self-determination feels precarious, people seek ways to get back into the driver's seat of their own lives. And you know what they say – if you can't beat 'em, hack 'em.

Life Hackers

In the turbulent economic environment, money is losing its value. Consumers are reevaluating their spending across sectors. With a looming crisis of trust in financial institutions, how are people managing their budgets? And how can brands navigate the complex relationship between value and cost?

Critical Spenders

Joseph Szala is a restaurant branding expert and consultant living in Atlanta, Georgia. A Pennsylvania native, Joseph has worked in the creative branding industry for over 12 years.

United States

Money

Savings and investments

Restaurants and takeaways

Travel and Leisure

Eating and Drinking

Forbes

CNBC

Interview with Joseph Szala conducted by the author

US Foods

Aaron Allan Consulting

Restaurant Dive

Interview with Szala conducted by the author

Keyhole

As fast food prices soar in the US, people are rediscovering casual dining in their search for better value. Chili's success shows how sit-down restaurants are winning over budget-conscious diners through simpler menus, competitive prices, and an effective social media strategy.