Gen Z Slang in Marketing: What Brands Get Wrong

Ariana Caballero Research Survey and Content Curator at Adolescent Content

If your brand has ever dropped "slay" into a campaign email and watched it flop, you have felt the risk of getting Gen Z slang in marketing wrong. To find out where that risk actually comes from, Adolescent Content surveyed our network of Gen Z YouthTellers in to discover how their generation really feels about its own language, not the surface-level takes, but the nuanced truth underneath them.

Gen Z slang refers to the constantly evolving vocabulary, including terms like "rizz," "vibes," and "it's giving," used by people roughly born between 1997 and 2012 to signal identity and humor online. Unlike prior generations' slang, it spreads and fades at algorithmic speed, shaped largely by TikTok trends and social audio.

AT A GLANCE

• 90% of Gen Z say their slang is open for anyone to use — there's no real gatekeeping.
• 50% say its correct, natural usage is the only real rule.
• Brand advertising is the #1 cited reason a slang word "dies."
• Words tipped to last: vibes, it's giving, ate, and, surprisingly, rizz.
• A meaningful share of Gen Z slang traces back to Black and LGBTQ+ communities, and Gen Z notices when that goes uncredited.

Is Gen Z Gatekeeping Their Own Slang?

Here's the good news for brands: Gen Z isn't trying to limit other people from using their slang, no matter what pop culture makes it out to be. In our YouthTellers survey, around 90% of respondents said Gen Z slang is open to everyone. Zero said it should be exclusive to their own generation.

Half of respondents said everyone's allowed to use their generation's slang terms as long as they use it correctly. This is a critical distinction for brands marketing to Gen Z: cultural fluency isn't about memorizing a list of trending words and dropping them into copy. It's about truly understanding the emotional context behind each one, and knowing when not to use it at all.

For anyone catching up: rizz means charisma or flirting skill, it's giving describes the vibe or energy something gives off, ate means someone did something extremely well, periodt emphasizes a point as final, and tea means gossip or the real story behind something.

How Should Brands Use Gen Z Slang in Marketing?

Gen Z's relationship with language is fluid, communal, and deeply human. The brands that earn their trust aren't the ones mimicking the vocabulary, they're the ones who understand why the vocabulary exists in the first place.

That point echoed something we heard directly from a Gen Z brand marketer: brands don't need slang to seem young, they need a consistent identity. Using a generation's vocabulary doesn't automatically earn its trust, any more than a grandparent using slang makes them more loved. If a brand can't explain why it's reaching for a trending word beyond wanting to seem current, the better investment is in the product or message itself, not the vocabulary.

Before greenlighting slang in a campaign, ask three questions. First, does this word genuinely fit the brand's existing voice, or is it being borrowed just to seem current? Second, would a Gen Z audience read this as correct, natural usage, or does it feel performed? Third, does the team know where the term comes from, and is it comfortable being visibly associated with that origin? A brand that can answer all three honestly is usually safe to proceed. A brand that hesitates on any of them should probably skip the slang and lean on its actual message instead.

Why Does Cultural Credit Matter in Gen Z Slang?

Multiple respondents, completely unprompted, mentioned that a significant chunk of Gen Z slang originates from Black and LGBTQ+ communities. One YouthTeller noted that a lot of Gen Z vocabulary is rooted in AAVE (African American Vernacular English), a dialect with its own grammar and history that has heavily shaped internet slang, and that its cultural ownership deserves to be acknowledged. Another respondent specifically called out words like "periodt" and "tea" as examples of terms that get borrowed without credit.

For brands targeting Gen Z consumers, cultural awareness isn't optional. This generation notices when language is used without meaning, and they'll call it out. Recognizing where slang comes from isn't just the right thing to do, it's essential to every credible Gen Z marketing strategy.

What Kills a Gen Z Slang Word?

Three things end a slang word's life, in this order: overuse, lack of cultural awareness, and brand advertising.

Our respondents named brand advertising as one of the clearest signals that a slang term has officially died. Words like woke, slay, and yes, even rizz, were all listed as terms that are either dead or circling the drain — not because they weren't great words at one point, but because mainstream overexposure stripped them of their meaning.

So, is rizz dead? Not quite yet, but it's definitely feeling the pressure. Brands that nail Gen Z slang avoid sounding "cringe" by keeping their usage authentic, playful, and highly specific to their niche.

Which Gen Z Slang Words Will Last?

When we asked our YouthTellers which words will still be standing ten years from now, a few clear winners emerged. Although it's already flagged as an almost-dead word, rizz ranked the highest, praised for somehow holding onto its meaning even after going fully viral. As one 23-year-old YouthTeller put it: "rizz is one of the rare slang words that broke into the mainstream and will likely be remembered as peak Gen Z vocabulary."

Vibes, it's giving, and ate rounded out the other top contenders. What do these words have in common? They're each flexible, emotionally resonant, and already woven into daily speech across generations. They continue to be used because they do something, they capture a feeling, a moment, an energy that standard vocabulary simply can't. That emotional connection is what drives Gen Z language trends and keeps certain words alive long after others fade.

Slang Snapshot

• Rizz — Fading, but resilient: Went fully mainstream but somehow kept its meaning.
• Slay — Dead: Overused in brand advertising.
• Woke — Dead: Politicized and overused outside its original context.
• Vibes — Lasting: Flexible, already crossing generations.
• It's giving — Lasting: Broad emotional shorthand, hard to replace.
• Ate — Lasting: Compact, versatile praise term.
• Periodt / Tea — Contested: Widely used, but borrowed from AAVE without credit.

Which Brands Are Getting Gen Z Slang Right?

A handful of brands show up again and again as slang done well, and what they have in common lines up directly with what our own YouthTellers told us.

Duolingo's self-aware meme use lines up with what our YouthTellers told us, it works because the brand pokes fun at itself using the slang, rather than using slang to seem cool. That's the 50% rule in action: correct, self-aware, not just usage.

Rare Beauty, founded by Selena Gomez, skips slang almost entirely and leans on consistent values, self-acceptance and casual tone instead. It's the clearest proof point in this list that the emotional resonance behind Gen Z's vocabulary matters more than the vocabulary itself.

Duolingo and Rare Beauty land on opposite ends of the slang spectrum, one leans all the way in, the other skips it almost entirely, but both pass the same test: neither is using language to manufacture relevance. The vocabulary is optional. Self-awareness is not.

FAQ

Why do brands "kill" slang words just by using them? Brand use signals that a word has gone mainstream, which strips away the insider feeling that made it appealing in the first place.

Should brands avoid Gen Z slang altogether? Not necessarily. Authenticity and correct usage matter far more than simply including trending words.

Want to go deeper? Start with the deeper rules of Gen Z branding, see the brands Gen Z already loves getting the tone right, or get the wider picture of what Gen Z wants from brand marketing.

Want to connect with Gen Z on an authentic level? Stop chasing their slang and start listening to their voices.

Adolescent Content works directly with Gen Z creators and consumers to help brands show up with real cultural fluency. Get in touch at adolescentcontent.com