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I’d love to hear about your favourite ways of getting a little dose of pleasure… let me know [email protected]

Angelique

My grammy had a saying for every occasion. When life was hard and when money was tight, she’d put the kettle on and say, almost like a spell: “A little bit of what you fancy does you good.”

She meant toast with too much honey butter. She meant an extra splash of syrup on a turtle pancake. She even let me wear a little dash of red lipstick when wearing a hand-me-down to a wedding (but only that one time).

I remember these little microdoses of pleasure always made us feel that life could still taste sweet.

Microdosing as biohacking or illicit substance experimentation has been gaining momentum since the 90s. But as it expands, it’s starting to look more like something that would make grammy smile.

The Power of Small

If the 20th century was defined by Supersize Me, the 21st seems to be rediscovering the power of small.

Take McDonald’s Gold Sauce. As new product development goes, it’s pretty low key. But it’s a drizzle of tang and smoke that elevates a chicken sandwich into something worth talking about. The brilliance isn’t in the sauce itself but in the dose. A reminder that sometimes the tiniest twist makes the familiar new.

Boba Pops are now trending on TikTok because these little pearls come spiked with alcohol, letting drinkers literally microdose their cocktails.

And then there’s 1906 Spirits, the new neutral-tasting cannabis spirit giving Cali Sober drinkers total control of their buzz. Unlike the syrupy, single-note THC drinks out there, 1906 blends THC and CBG for a fast-acting, hangover-free lift. Think of it as the vodka of cannabis: smooth, versatile, and ready to mix into anything from soda to spritzers (in any dose you want).

Even Noom is getting in on the microdose mindset, launching a GLP-1 support program to help users take smaller, smarter steps toward sustainable weight loss. I think it’s interesting that they got the idea from people breaking their doses down into smaller portions. People who didn’t want to go totally cold turkey.

Everyday Doses

The truth is, microdosed pleasure has always been with us. Look at Diet Coke Break on TikTok. A ritual from the 1990s revived by Gen Z, who now call that mid-day can the “fridge cig.” The joy comes from that tiny moment of release. The khssshh of the can. The burn at the back of the throat. A microdose of me time rebellion simply engineered for pleasure.

Put together, these signals tell us the same story: pleasure doesn’t need to be big, rare, or life-altering. It thrives in the little things; the drizzle, the pop, the crackle, the ritual sip.

We can keep chasing the blockbuster innovation, the megatrend, the transformation. But culture is quietly reminding us that just a little—done well—is enough to shift behaviour, create cravings, and build loyalty.

In a culture drowning in choice and overdosing on everything, the real art is knowing what little bit to give to really cut through and draw a straight line to joy.

A drizzle of gold. A ritual pop. A dose of calm. A crackle in the throat.

The brands that win aren’t the ones piling on more features, more flavours, more functions; rather, they’re the ones slipping in just enough to spark a smile, a memory, a craving. They understand that humans don’t need constant abundance and extremes, rather we need little moments of joy that give us a feeling of being really alive.

So here’s the provocation:
If pleasure is most powerful in small portions, what’s the one tiny tweak your brand could make tomorrow that would linger far longer than any campaign?

Because the future of desire may not be in the excess but in the exquisite restraint of a moment that makes us pause, savour, and want more. In rediscovering what humans have always known when we’re not being sold to: a little bit of what you fancy really does do you good!

They come straight from Future Possible®, the world's only innovation tool that combines consumer foresights, actionable opportunities, and thousands of inspiring signals. It’s a sweet bundle of everything we’re seeing that gets updated weekly, so you can stay inspired and map your next moves for only £95/year.

Prepare yourself to experience a sense of wonder, but in three very different ways.

A collection of clever, funny and audacious moves that had us smiling (for all sorts of reasons) this week:

Taking Celebrity Endorsement to New Heights

Lewis Capaldi turned a Nottingham Aldi into “Cap-Aldi” this week, performing a surprise rooftop gig that had shoppers abandoning trolleys. The cheeky stunt plugged his new single and UK tour, and gave Aldi another viral moment in its streak of playful rebrands. Capaldi put it best: “Capaldi on the roof of an Aldi… some excellent produce, by the way.”

Slam Dunk!

For World Cerebral Palsy Day 2025, the FightTheStroke Foundation’s More than Palsy campaign turns lived experience into art. Fronted by actor-playwright Jack Hunter, it expands his slam poem “You’ve Got to Be Ballsy to Have Cerebral Palsy” into a raw, collective portrait of everyday courage. Shot documentary-style, it flips pity into power, proving that living with Cerebral Palsy isn’t about limitation, but audacity.

Clean Slate

Ford has wiped its Instagram clean, erasing years of posts in a bold digital reset. The move launches its Ready Set Ford campaign and a new focus on “passion vehicles,” signalling a re-energised identity. Each refreshed account carries the line: “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” A nod to Henry Ford, and a brand starting again with intent.

Shockingly Attractive

Denim brand Olga Basha has dropped a diner-set ad that swaps glamour for grotesque. Two women swoon over a man, until he picks his nose and eats off the pavement. Directed by Matias & Mathias, it’s absurd, stomach-turning, and unforgettable, proving that sometimes shock is the sharpest kind of seduction.

Be Careful What You Wish For!

Brighton pizzeria Fatto a Mano’s cheeky offer, a free pizza for a pineapple, went viral fast. Locals stripped supermarket shelves, leaving staff knee-deep in fruit. The team salvaged the chaos by donating over a ton of pineapples to food banks through Fareshare, proving even a marketing misfire can end on a sweet note.

Across the US, college stations are buzzing back to life. At Columbia University’s WKCR, students are rediscovering the thrill of playing vinyl on air. At Boston University’s WTBU, a new generation is learning to cue records and talk through the static. Rather than the polished broadcasts of the big stations, they’re scrappy, stumbling and full of life.  

For Gen Z, who’ve grown up on algorithmic feeds and endlessly optimised playlists, this revival is about connection, rather than nostalgia (let’s face it, they’re not really old enough to have experienced vinyl the first time around). A human voice picking the next track. The thrill of not knowing what comes next. The intimacy of sharing a fleeting, unrepeatable moment together. That’s magic. So popular are the stations that there are quite literally not enough hours in the day for all the budding DJs queuing up to share their picks.

It just goes to show; when culture gets too curated, people seek the crackle of imperfection. College radio shows us yet another way that connection beats curation, and sometimes the static is the most human sound of all.