Why Every Brand Is Talking About Community Right Now
Lifestyle brands have become privy to our thirst for belonging.
Many years ago, I tried to sneak in the term “commensality” in a story I was writing for [redacted publication]. It means “the act of eating and drinking together,” an ostensibly menial ritual that social scientists use as a window into deeper truths about culture and society. I don’t quite remember the context of my use of the word, but regardless, my editor flagged it as, “too academic.”
And they were right. At the time, I was neck deep in thesis purgatory for my master’s degree. And my brain had become a vending machine of scholarly jargon that admittedly felt out of place in the editorial zeitgeist then. Now though, commensality is back on my mind, particularly as I reckon with the sudden, widespread infatuation with food and community.
