The Humor Divide: Why Millennial and Gen Z PR Teams Just Don’t Get Each Other
Published on March 31, 2025, at 5:07 p.m.
by Olivia Pickens.
The other day, while conducting my daily duties as a member of Generation Z by doomscrolling on TikTok, I came across a video that demanded, “STOP. PUTTING. MIDDLE. AGED. PEOPLE. ON. PR. TEAMS.” If you’re wondering, yes, this video was posted by a member of Gen Z.
Within three days, the video reached roughly two million views and 272,200 likes, and the comments quickly filled with people adamantly agreeing with the statement. The creator’s idea for the video stems from recent backlash Disney Channel received after its affiliate account @disneytva missed the mark on a video, which has since been deleted, trying to incorporate a joke widely used by Gen Z. A Yahoo! article calls out the post’s problem as, “In its original form, the meme refers to how historians will say that people who were clearly in a gay relationship were ‘just roommates,’ but Disney’s social media team picked images of siblings.”
The passion behind the creator’s video brought up an interesting point: Why is there an obvious difference on social media between the humor used by a millennial versus a Gen Z public relations team?
Gen Z is considered those born from 1997-2012; millennials are considered people born from 1981-1996. Even though one generation directly follows the other, there are many events and milestones that make their differences.
For example, the launch of the first iPhone in 2007 began a new era of technology and social media. At this time, the oldest millennials were 26 years old, and the youngest Gen Zers would not be born for five more years. Millennials learned how to incorporate technology in day-to-day life, while Gen Z was raised using it.
The “Millennial Pause” has been determined as one of the most telling signs that a person is a millennial and had to learn how to use technology, rather than a Gen Zer who grew up along with technology. The “Millennial Pause” is when a person waits a second to make sure a video is recording before speaking, rather than trusting the technology is working correctly.
Next, the evolution of comedy and humor between the two generations creates a divide and inability to relate to one another’s jokes in many scenarios. Popular Gen Z apps like TikTok allow trends to evolve and spread faster than ever before, with a constant flow of newer, more viral jokes. Many Gen Zers think millennials are “cringey” and try too hard because they hold on to jokes for too long and use jokes far after they become old.
Some brands have mastered the art of targeting Gen Z through comedy. Wendy’s sense of humor has become iconic for its ability to relate with Gen Z on social media through quick and effortless messaging. Ryanair quickly went viral by making fun of its own brand and tapping into the casual aspect of Gen Z’s humor.
So, if you’re wanting to boost your brand’s engagement on social media, while a stacked résumé of a millennial may look the best for the job, next time, take the chance on the Gen Zer whose sense of humor alone could make your brand viral.
