Latest / The imuRgency Room / Rebranding In The New Year Is A Scam
Transcript
- 0:002026. Rebrand, rebrand, Rebrand
- 0:02Rebrand 5. Minutes into a conversation,
- 0:04people will be to tell that you're an insecure fraud.
- 0:07Everyone setting insane rebrand lists for their entire life and
- 0:11crazy New Year's resolutions. Excessive goal setting.
- 0:13Forget rebranding, just figure out and refine yourself so you
- 0:18can figure out who you are and who you want to be.
- 0:21OK, we get it, we're in New Year.
- 0:22Put the glue sticks down and step away from the AI generated
- 0:26Pinterest images please. Hey guys, it's up to emergency
- 0:29and welcome back to my channel. And both on the Internet and in
- 0:32real life. I have heard and had many of
- 0:34such conversations of the holidays in the new year, not
- 0:38necessarily feeling the same. And actually hold up, this is
- 0:40not going to be a video on that because I've actually already
- 0:43covered that in a previous video.
- 0:45But but I did want to bring to light the latest player in the
- 0:48Gen. Z discourse game has to do more
- 0:50specifically with what's been going on for New Year's and
- 0:54mostly the discourse around New Year's and New beginnings and
- 0:57the concept of a 2026 or just general New Year rebrand.
- 1:01And of course, like most things we talk about on this channel, I
- 1:03fear that some of the conversations around this New
- 1:05Year's rebrand and things like it can actually be quite
- 1:08problematic. And I think the larger part of
- 1:10it is that the content going around about it, which trust and
- 1:13believe we will be getting into. And hey, maybe I'm just behind
- 1:15on the curve, but the New Year's content in more recent years has
- 1:18felt more like a ploy to mask consumerism, or at least
- 1:21consumerist habits, all under the guise of self improvement.
- 1:25It's almost like the Wellness and improvement industry has
- 1:27found the perfect holiday to cling on to.
- 1:29And in this video, we're going to explore the reason for the
- 1:31season, or rather New Year's, and the online and IRL discourse
- 1:36surrounding rebrands. And to put it more simply,
- 1:38getting into why you're not rebranding, you're just renewing
- 1:41your yearly vow to capitalism. And to kick off this
- 1:43conversation, we need to talk off the online and IRL
- 1:45sentiment. I'm feeling like the new year is
- 1:47bringing in new beginnings and the general time for a new brand
- 1:49or a rebrand. And before you all get mad at
- 1:51me, yes, I did go into 2026 making a vision board.
- 1:54It actually, I did go as far as to host my own vision board
- 1:57event with my friends at my house.
- 1:59So please hold your fire. Like I completely understand why
- 2:02the ball dropping the clocks turning at midnight into a new
- 2:06year feels like such an opportune time.
- 2:08Get your there. Like it's nothing new that New
- 2:10Year's resolutions are a thing. I mean, when else will gyms go
- 2:13hard in their marketing and subscription videos?
- 2:15I mean, except for Equinox, of course.
- 2:16They don't want you there in January.
- 2:18And I'm not here to be a downer on the effectiveness of
- 2:20resolutions or saying that you should make resolutions in and
- 2:22of themselves. But the way we have grown to
- 2:24think about resolutions or rebranding hasn't always been
- 2:27the most effective. With an article from the
- 2:29Atlantic Sighting that surveys have found that fewer than 10%
- 2:32of Americans who make resolutions stick to them for a
- 2:34year. By the end of February 2024,
- 2:36according to a survey conducted by the Harris Poll, about half
- 2:39of respondents who set resolutions had already given up
- 2:42on them. And this article goes in the
- 2:43paradoxical intent, which is interesting, but not the point
- 2:46of this video. It just seems like in those last
- 2:48days leading up to New Year's, there are a myriad of people
- 2:50seeking to and somehow some way rebrand their entire way of
- 2:53living. Which as a general marker of
- 2:55time makes sense, but as we will get into, might not be the best
- 2:58way to frame it and might not even be the best time to do it,
- 3:01if any. But first, let's get into the
- 3:03concept of the rebrand. I feel like there's been a lot
- 3:05of conversation around the rebrand 2026, specifically
- 3:08looking at the suite. Like if you somehow managed to
- 3:10stay off of social media completely.
- 3:11First of all, good on you Deepa pop.
- 3:13A popular trend or phrase that's been going around is the 2026
- 3:16rebrand. And while commonly rebrands are
- 3:18meant for companies and well brands when they change logos,
- 3:21shift color schemes, maybe a font change or two.
- 3:23But as anyone online may know, the concept of rebranding has
- 3:26been Co opted in a more personal way, with people now using the
- 3:29same language to apply to themselves as a means and a
- 3:32method to completely shift who they may have been to who they
- 3:34want to be. And that is nothing short of
- 3:36interesting. And don't worry, I got you
- 3:38covered just in case you haven't seen any of these kinds of Tik
- 3:40Toks. What about accessories for
- 3:42April? One thought I had was enamel
- 3:46Bengals pendants. Earrings.
- 3:47No, we did that two years ago. What else?
- 3:50Well they're showing a lot of florals right now so I was
- 3:53thinking I can do for. Spraying, which luckily has
- 3:56brought us to this exchange. We'll be adding this to my list
- 3:59of 2026 ends of How to Respond to People.
- 4:01Thought I had was enamel Bengals pendants, earrings.
- 4:05No, we did that two years ago. What else?
- 4:07Well, they're showing a lot of florals right now, so I was
- 4:09thinking florals. Spring.
- 4:11What about? Accessories for April.
- 4:12One thought I had was enamel Bengals tendons.
- 4:15Earrings. Now we did that two years ago.
- 4:16What else? Well, they're showing a lot of
- 4:17florals right now, so I was thinking.
- 4:19Because things really do just have to make sense to me and I
- 4:21will not be explaining it like but in all series, do not get it
- 4:25twisted, I am all here her personal reflection, intention,
- 4:28setting and manifestations like I am a manifestation king.
- 4:31Like if you know me, you know that I put everything on the
- 4:33stars. I put everything to my
- 4:35manifestations and everything to my good intentions.
- 4:37You cannot play with me. You will be building that
- 4:39internal world. Do you hear me?
- 4:40The concept of a rebrand, however, feels like the
- 4:42commodification of these internal processes.
- 4:45And it always sort of comes around the new year.
- 4:47Like, notice how in a lot of rebrand tech talks, they always
- 4:49mention things like you need to buy or things that you should
- 4:51change about yourself, your place, your habits, the things
- 4:54that you do and things that you like, which are nice to hear,
- 4:56but ultimately mean that you should go and buy something else
- 4:59or spend your money on something else.
- 5:00And we're going to get into that.
- 5:02But first and foremost, the literal Oxford definition of a
- 5:05rebrand is to change the corporate image of a company or
- 5:08organization. Now, I'm no expert in English.
- 5:10I'd be stuttering boots throughout these videos, but if
- 5:13my ear and my eye is not failing me, 1/3 of that statement is
- 5:17corporate company or organization.
- 5:19As much as your favorite career creator, inspiration creator may
- 5:21tell you, you are not a brand or a corporation, my friends.
- 5:24I mean, some of you actually might be, in which case you
- 5:27people shocked my people. But for the large majority, we
- 5:29are people first. We are not brands.
- 5:32And the whole concept of like everyday people being brands and
- 5:34being these businesses speaks to honestly so much that's going
- 5:38wrong in the world right now in terms of just like us feeling
- 5:40like we need demonetize our selves and our likeness as
- 5:43opposed to the things that we do.
- 5:44Like I am such a big advocate of being mindful of the language
- 5:47that we use because 1 words mean things and two, we build
- 5:50normalization through our words. And while corporations are
- 5:53legally people, which again, crazy, you can take that up with
- 5:55the government, you yourself are not a corporation and you
- 5:59yourself are not a brand. And using corporate lingo for
- 6:02yourself should be something that you're mindful of.
- 6:03And I know this is super rich coming from a creator where like
- 6:06every creator is like, oh, I am my brand.
- 6:08Like my brand is my personality and my likeness.
- 6:10But like, I think there is something intrinsically harmful
- 6:13with monetizing your essence because at what point does the
- 6:16branding stop and the personhood begin?
- 6:18As this creator so poetically put it, rebranding is from the
- 6:21top down. Evolution is from the inside
- 6:23out. The concept of the 2026 rebrand
- 6:25is crazy to me. You don't need to rebrand.
- 6:28You're not a company, you're not a product.
- 6:30You're a girl. Oh, you want to evolve?
- 6:33OK, great. You want to evolve intentionally
- 6:34have at it. Make a list, make some goals,
- 6:37have some resolutions. And before you say that's what a
- 6:38rebrand is, a rebrand is top down.
- 6:41Evolution is inside out. Oh, if you feel like you need to
- 6:43be witnessed and you have to turn your growth into a
- 6:45spectacle, why you have people for that in your life.
- 6:48And if you don't, that's resolution #1.
- 6:50Ultimately, I think people do a large disservice to themselves.
- 6:53They think that they constantly need to change to be more like
- 6:56something else because of the crux of it.
- 6:57It feels like you as you are currently are not enough.
- 7:00And maybe that resolution should be more aligned with knowing
- 7:02yourself more and accepting who that is.
- 7:05I mean, unless you're a terrible person, then definitely change
- 7:07because nobody wants that. And maybe, just maybe, if any of
- 7:10the terrible people that we know did some self reflection and had
- 7:14any thoughts to process to any capacity, maybe they wouldn't be
- 7:17terrible people. Food for thought.
- 7:20Now we talk about the what, Let's get into the why.
- 7:23Why do we normalize rebranding as people?
- 7:24And is there any inklings of capitalism behind it?
- 7:27I'm going to tell you right now the answer is yes.
- 7:29And more specifically as to the why, you are going to hate when
- 7:31I say it because I'm going to sound real old and real unky
- 7:34saying it. It be the damn phones.
- 7:36Well, more specifically the damn social media.
- 7:40Like of course there is a long history of New Year's
- 7:42resolutions that can be dated back to the Babylonian era.
- 7:46You know, look at all swords and pitchforks and whatever they had
- 7:49going on in Babylon. But like everything in culture,
- 7:52it evolves with the times. New Year's resolutions becoming
- 7:56New Year's rebrands feels almost 5:00 AM.
- 7:59Rise and cry. 3 days and one real alpha male.
- 8:02And while that may be an extreme, we do have to admit
- 8:05that we've normalized flex culture, or at least comparing
- 8:08ourselves to complete strangers who we perceive to have it
- 8:12better. And somehow that has seeped its
- 8:13way into our goals and resolutions for ourselves.
- 8:16Like truly, when did everyone become brands and why does
- 8:19everyone have the same resolutions?
- 8:21It feels like the goal is to always be hotter, skinnier,
- 8:24richer, more successful. Like, OK, and those are all
- 8:27desirable things, but like, what happens when you finally achieve
- 8:30that? Like, Mama, isn't there always
- 8:31going to be a hotter, skinnier enrichment behind you that
- 8:34you're going to then set as the standard to achieve?
- 8:36Like, especially when you have the endless pit that is social
- 8:38media constantly updating and changing that standard.
- 8:41In a society where we strive to optimize ourselves and we tie
- 8:43our worth to productivity, it makes sense to always be chasing
- 8:46better and more than what currently is.
- 8:48Which brings you back to the original point from before about
- 8:51the holidays. Most holidays were originally
- 8:53about family connection and joy at the forefront.
- 8:55I mean watch any Hallmark or just plain old Christmas movie
- 8:58from the early 2000s. But given the ever increasing
- 9:01consumer first nature of our society, it feels like the
- 9:04holidays are more about buying things or being a improved or
- 9:07optimized person through purchasable or whatever wealthy
- 9:10means. I've been hearing that for the
- 9:11past few years that the holidays don't have the same feeling as
- 9:14before. Like this past holiday season I
- 9:16did not feel the magic and while I think that can be attributed
- 9:18to many things like us all losing our child like whimsy,
- 9:21the baton getting passed to us as a generation for the holidays
- 9:24and traditions, our ever so vampiric capitalistic society.
- 9:27Again, watch the previous video about this.
- 9:30I think at least one contributing factor is because
- 9:32the focus of the holidays has shifted to focus on material
- 9:35objects versus the holiday feeling.
- 9:37I mean a capitalist society's love language is gift giving and
- 9:40getting even if the gift is written to you from you.
- 9:43Like no shades of my gift giving love language people, but I'd
- 9:46rather just get nothing to make people feel forced into giving
- 9:49me something that I don't really want or need from Amazon just
- 9:52because they deliver fast and I feel obligated to.
- 9:54Like an intentional gift at any time of the year is better than
- 9:56the placeholder one at like the quote UN quote right time now
- 9:59pause. I know there are people this
- 10:01doesn't apply to, and I'm sure there are very lovely
- 10:03resolutions, intentions and aspirations you've set for
- 10:06yourself this year, which I would love to hear all about
- 10:08down in the comments. But for the sake of this video,
- 10:10I'm referring to how resolutions every year look a little more
- 10:12purchase dependent than the last.
- 10:14How instead of intentions or resolutions, we now have
- 10:17rebrands and locking in things usually referred to in a
- 10:20workspace or in terms of productivity.
- 10:22And that's a whole other conversation on placing yourself
- 10:24worth on your productivity. I am a victim of this as well.
- 10:27We want to talk about resolutions in 2026.
- 10:29Let's decenter that. Let's decenter productivity as a
- 10:33form of self worth because we do not need that.
- 10:36We are not put on this earth to be productive.
- 10:38That is a capitalist scheme. Like it feels like our goals are
- 10:42dependent on our productivity and how much value we can bring
- 10:45to others and show from ourselves.
- 10:47Like it's the whole thing of like how valuable can we be
- 10:50versus how much can we grow and enjoy life.
- 10:52And I think it's just like the general blatant self disregard
- 10:55and self abandonment that gets me.
- 10:56Like, again, I've done this myself and to myself year after
- 10:59year and no one's perfect, but we really need to be building
- 11:02ourselves up and focusing on that kind of development rather
- 11:05than focusing on what you think you need and who you think you
- 11:07need to be. I.
- 11:08Keep seeing people talk about the 2026 brand, and I just want
- 11:11to say I'm noticing a pattern. And yes, the new year is a
- 11:14chance for renewal. It's a breath of fresh air.
- 11:17It's an opportunity, it's a portal.
- 11:19Absolutely. And also at some point, and this
- 11:22is something that I had to practice for myself, at some
- 11:25point you have to stop being the first person to abandon
- 11:28yourself. You can't keep throwing it all
- 11:31off the table and building it from scratch.
- 11:33You are not a phoenix. You're a human being.
- 11:35And the foundation that you built for yourself is is, is not
- 11:39so insignificant that you should be so willing and eager to
- 11:43undermine it and to start over. Now you may be asking Rumi, OK,
- 11:46that's nice, but like how can we go about this in a healthy way?
- 11:49And you know, I'm not saying that I'm the end all be all to
- 11:52how to do New Year's right? Again, I'd love to hear about
- 11:54how y'all go about this in the comments because I love
- 11:57switching up and adding to my traditions.
- 11:58I did not do two groups this year and I was not running
- 12:00around, but I would like to share some ways I'm trying to be
- 12:02mindful about my intentions this year.
- 12:04I, being more of a manifestation person, love doing like vision
- 12:07boards and love really visualizing the things that I
- 12:09want to achieve in a year. A good friend of mine
- 12:11recommended a book called Creative Visualization that has
- 12:13been actually inactively changing my life and how I
- 12:16manifest and visualize my goals. So if you're into reading and
- 12:18into like that kind of stuff, you should have to go check out
- 12:21that book. But I really love to visualize
- 12:22my goals and ambitions and those can be more concrete things like
- 12:25career milestones or it can be more abstract like having a
- 12:27community and building more community.
- 12:29But the through line of all the visualization is really
- 12:31reminding myself that I am a human and that I am going to
- 12:34make mistakes and to give myself grace along the way,
- 12:36acknowledging that I am not a company, I am not a machine
- 12:39that's just meant to be productive.
- 12:40Like I'm allowed to have off days, I'm allowed to not be
- 12:42productive some days, and I'm allowed to schedule, plan and
- 12:45take rest when needed. And I really think that is so
- 12:48important. My researcher Brianna added some
- 12:50things that she personally does for the New Years that I think
- 12:52are fun to share. She says that she personally
- 12:53likes to think of what she wants more and less of and tries to
- 12:56base it off feelings and experiences and gives the
- 12:59example of saying like she really liked one particular
- 13:01workout class or like enjoyed more time outdoors on hikes
- 13:04rather than the gym. Then she can schedule at least
- 13:06one hike per week per month to increase that experience in the
- 13:09new year or just generally setting a goal to go on at least
- 13:115 hikes a month. She also said that for the past
- 13:13three years she's been keeping a bingo guard for things that she
- 13:14likes to do during the year, including bigger and smaller
- 13:17goals just to really bring in that whimsy in life.
- 13:19Things like having read X amount of books, watching a sunrise,
- 13:22doing a solo day trip, getting scam and molt by the unemployed
- 13:25reseller men at the goodwill bins.
- 13:27Girl are you OK? The whole point of that is to
- 13:29have small moments that if we don't plan, we might just
- 13:31overlook completely. And while big goals are also
- 13:34important to add, it's also nice to let you have some smaller,
- 13:37easier wins that you might not do otherwise.
- 13:39I think January is also the perfect time to look back and be
- 13:41grateful and let go of things from this past year.
- 13:44Like, what are we grateful for in 2025 that we wouldn't mind
- 13:46shifting out for 2026? The lessons learned, if you
- 13:49will. Like what experiences and
- 13:51moments are most memorable, and how can we aim to experience
- 13:53things just like that again? What about that specifically
- 13:56brought you joy? You can name a bigger goal you'd
- 13:57like to get to and focus on what's smaller actions can help
- 14:00get you there. Like there are so many great
- 14:01videos on this, or you can even do yourself one better and like
- 14:04ask your friends and community how they like setting themselves
- 14:06up mentally for success in the new year.
- 14:08And again, I beg for the third time, please leave some of your
- 14:11favorite ways that you like to bring in the new year in the
- 14:13comments. Because not only am I
- 14:14interested, I also think that other people will find value in
- 14:16it as well. Now let's switch gears and talk
- 14:17about how like New Year's is literally fake and you can start
- 14:21and change your life at any time.
- 14:22Like I say this all the time, but like the day gotta end and
- 14:25so does the year. Time is literally just a concept
- 14:27and you can really start changing or start to change
- 14:30whenever you like. These whole time scare tactics
- 14:33seem to be an important part of the New Year's hurrah and
- 14:35hoopla. But like it really does not
- 14:37matter if you start on the 1st if your dedication, devotion,
- 14:40and commitment to that habit stays the same.
- 14:41Like side note but some people love to use the word discipline
- 14:44but like I don't really know how I feel about it because the way
- 14:46that y'all use discipline sometimes kind of sounds like a
- 14:48punishment and like why would I see growth in a habit that I see
- 14:51as punishment? There's like some girl on TikTok
- 14:52that has altered people's brain chemistry when she said to start
- 14:55changing discipline to devotion. If discipline isn't working for
- 14:58you, then you should probably try out devotion because maybe
- 15:01your nervous system in your body even associates the term
- 15:04discipline with some type of punishment or something bad
- 15:06happening to you. Especially if you had a lot of
- 15:08trauma whenever you were a child and your parents or caregivers
- 15:11made you feel like an idiot or stupid or bad or a brat whenever
- 15:14you made a mistake or they did in fact punish you.
- 15:17And you might even actually find yourself going after goals or
- 15:20having these ambitions or whatever in your life that you
- 15:23can't stay consistent to. Because maybe you're going after
- 15:25goals and things that aren't even authentic to you.
- 15:27You're only doing them because you also feel like you're going
- 15:29to get punished, abused, abandoned if you don't do these
- 15:32things that other people are telling you to do.
- 15:34Because that's what's been happening your whole life
- 15:36anyway. Once you understand the goals
- 15:37that you actually want to go after, or the things that you
- 15:39want to be more consistent or disciplined in, get curious
- 15:42about all the ways that you have failed at going after that goal
- 15:45in a way that is not shameful, but informative.
- 15:48Like ultimately you want to add change or leave a habit behind
- 15:51as an act of devotion to yourself.
- 15:53And I understand some people like markers of time when it
- 15:55comes to beginning or ending something.
- 15:57Like starting something at the top of the hour or half hour as
- 15:59opposed to like at, I don't know, like 10:27.
- 16:03But I really wouldn't stress or keep the looming feeling that
- 16:05you've got to abide by the calendar to enact your goals or
- 16:08that you should give up in general if you didn't keep it up
- 16:10in January, AKA hibernation season.
- 16:12Like don't mind me forgetting a little spiritual or a little woo
- 16:14woo on it. But like over here, we are big
- 16:16believers in following nature's patterns.
- 16:18And something that I saw that's more common in indigenous
- 16:20practices and spiritual beliefs is that the new year is during
- 16:22the spring equinox, which actually makes a lot more sense.
- 16:26A calendar year that starts the same for everyone is a marker of
- 16:29colonialism. Sorry.
- 16:31Like love this take from this creator about how time is meant
- 16:33to be local and not globalized, but it was globalized for the
- 16:37sake of capitalism. The.
- 16:38Concept of a global New Year's is the ultimate form of
- 16:41colonialism. There has never been another
- 16:44time in human history where we have collectively shared a
- 16:47calendar. And that is because,
- 16:49historically speaking, calendars have always been determined
- 16:52bioregionally based off of of ecological and celestial
- 16:57framing, right? But I digress, don't let these
- 17:00time restrictions make you think that you're lazy.
- 17:01Like even if you didn't start on your goals or intentions yet.
- 17:03Like people need rest. To my friends, the holidays are
- 17:07wild. It is a misconception that the
- 17:09holidays are relaxing and restful because when you're
- 17:11around family and doing the most or doing the least and
- 17:14recovering from the year or working through the holidays,
- 17:17that could be anything. But we can all be called to
- 17:19action and grow when things are literally growing in the spring.
- 17:22And while humans aren't hibernators by trade, it does
- 17:24not mean that we we don't need rest in a period of nothingness.
- 17:26Like it's completely normal to not feel fully invigorated at
- 17:29the beginning of the year. And if you do, good for you.
- 17:32Like, I really think in some aspect, by beginning our year in
- 17:34the winter, we are setting ourselves up for failure.
- 17:38And when you fail or don't succeed, capitalism is winning.
- 17:41And I'm gonna leave that at that.
- 17:43Like, just to wrap up, I want to reiterate that I am not a cop.
- 17:46I am not the police, quite literally do whatever feels true
- 17:49and good to you. But I do think we should pay
- 17:51just a little bit more closer attention to our trends and what
- 17:54they are bringing out. If you want to focus on the
- 17:56evolution of the self, that can happen at any time of the year
- 17:59with the right mindset. But do not forget all of the
- 18:01phases of you that got you here in the 1st place.
- 18:04Like Please remember y'all, rebranding is for companies
- 18:07feeling bad about yourself or not.
- 18:08Rebranding or being behind in the new year is a byproduct and
- 18:11only serves capitalism and time itself is a concept.
- 18:14All right, you got that peace.