5 Things Millennials Have Killed and Why

Generation Y has been an odd one, to say the least as they don’t seem to conform to the buying norms of previous generations. Often you will see headlines stating boldly: 

Millennials have Killed Doorbells! Millennials Kill Harley for Avo Toast!, or even Avocados and Millennials are Killing Future Finance. Come to think about it, there’s a lot of hate online about millennials and their love for avos…

Here is a list of the industries that millennials have “killed”.

Millennials Killed Fabric Softener!
Apparently, this travesty in human history, the death of fabric softener, began around the time millennials (youths born between 1981 and 1996) started getting jobs, moving out, and doing their own laundry. But why, why would they go after the sweetly scented household necessity that is fabric softener?

What millennials say:
Fabric softener was developed to counteract the rough feel clothing had when being machine washed… 50 years ago! The technology in washing machines has adapted to be friendlier on clothing, the softeners have harsh chemicals we’d rather not wear or throw into the environment, and clothing doesn’t actually need it. In fact, most clothing labels suggest not using it at all. So why waste money we’re trying to save on a product we don’t need? 

Millennials Killed Lunch!
How could one generation destroy a meal that has existed for over 100 years, and then have the audacity to replace it with snacks? 

What millennials say:
We eat at work, oh, wait you mean that hour-long break to travel to a restaurant and have a drink and a steak and be an acceptable 20 minutes late back to work? Oh, no we don’t do that. 

1. We’d rather bring lunch from home because we’re too broke to eat out every day. 
2. Snacks are cheap and can be eaten while we work and, well 
3. We actually want to do the exorbitant amount of work we need to get through on a daily basis.

Sorry lunch.

Millennials are Killing the Diamond Industry!
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. For a man to truly show he’s worthy of a woman he needs to spend 3 months salary on a diamond ring, not to mention ‘diamonds are forever’. How could these millennials turn their backs on diamonds, of all things?

What millennials say:
Diamonds? Those teensy twinkly stones that are mined in the most appalling conditions and fuel civil wars in some of the poorest nations? You expect us to spend THREE months salary when we can’t afford lunch on one pebble to prove we’re worthy of marriage? An expensive luxury valued by synthetic scarcity? Diamonds.

Speaking of marriage and diamonds… 
Millennials Killed Marriage!
The sanctity of marriage, the wonderful union between two people who love each other. No matter the culture, no matter the religion marriage has been a tradition going back centuries. A beautiful ceremony being born from every corner of the globe. Love, unity, beauty…and millennials have killed it!

What millennials say:
When half of all marriages end in divorce, we’d prefer to stay away from marriage, at least for now while we’re trying to get our finances in order. Weddings are expensive, divorce is expensive and when we can barely afford to live on the salaries we have right now, most of us are just happy to live with the person we love without rings or certificates. We just don’t see the appeal or need for marriage right now.

Millennials Killed Wine Corks!
Wine corks have given us 400 years of perfectly sealed wine, allowing it to age well and not leak. 400 years of tradition for a drink widely celebrated and millennials have come along and said they could do better. 

What millennials say:
The truth is, millennials have no problem with wine corks if your favourite wine is corked then your favourite wine is corked, cool for you dude. We just prefer the cheaper box wines because it’s more wine for your bucks. If it’s not in a box then the re-sealable aluminium cap on bottles is more efficient to open and close. Why do we need extra equipment to enjoy a glass of wine such as bottle sealers and corkscrews?

At the end of the day or end of an era it seems, each new generation brings in their own ideas and range of preferences and throws out some things held dear to those who came before. Wine corks and diamonds, marriage and lunch, maybe this new generation is just fumbling through life the way the older generation did at one point. However, there is one thing we can agree on... The avo industry is gonna be just fine.