As an addition to our efforts to understand young people’s worldview, we collaborated with We Are Different to run a research project with 1,000 Australians aged between 14 and 29. We wanted to explore their perceptions of the advertising they are exposed to on a minute-by-minute basis.

81% of young Australians say they hate ads. It is a striking number and, at first, sounds like young people are rejecting advertising altogether. They are not. Our I Hate Ads Report conveys something more subtle.

Gen Z do not dislike the idea of advertising. They dislike the current approach.

Before we critique the current advertising, we should acknowledge something important. Young people understand the role advertising plays in their decisions. They do not pretend to live in a world free from influence. Friends matter but so do creators. Influencers shape opinions. Media commentary provides recommendations. Even traditional advertising influence behaviour with smaller impact.

So why do young people say they hate ads?

Reason One: Ads interrupt their lives

Young people move through a dense media environment. Entertainment, conversation, study, work, news, search, and personal interests all sit on the same screen. In that environment comes a constant stream of advertising.

The problem is not exposure. It is overload. They see far more advertising than they can meaningfully engage with. When that happens, the experience becomes intrusive. They feel they have lost control of their own time and attention.

This is where traditional media planning sits at odds with lived experience. Brands hear repeated messages about optimising reach, building frequency, and ensuring coverage across the path to purchase. These ideas have value for planning but do not match how young people feel when they are exposed to the same message again and again. Overexposure does not create resonance. It creates avoidance.

Of the 1,000 people surveyed, 15% said they found them extremely intrusive, 45% said they found them somewhat intrusive and 32% felt neutral. Only 7% said they found them not very intrusive, while 1% said they found them not intrusive at all.

The result is predictable. Young people skip and scroll. They mute and fast forward. They use ad blockers. In media terms, this is the right logic delivered in the wrong emotional environment. The volume is high, while the willingness to engage is low.

Reason Two: Ads do not feel real

Gen Z’s dislike for much of today’s advertising is also personal. They often feel that the content created for them is boring, artificial, or based on a shallow understanding of their world.

Young people regularly see ads that imitate the surface of youth culture without understanding its depth. They hear language that feels forced or unnatural. They watch influencers who look like they are reading from a script. They see trends recycled long after those trends have moved on. They notice attempts to disguise paid content under the cover of entertainment.

They also notice when creative feels polished in a way that removes humanity. They notice when messaging tries to be clever but misses the emotional tone of the moment. They recognise when content wants their attention but does not respect their ability to see insincerity.

One person surveyed, an 18-year-old female, said:

“If you wanna get my attention, talk to me like a real person, not a brand bot. Show your personality through short, scrollstopping videos or memes I’d send to my friends. Don’t just sell me stuff, make me feel like I’m part of something real. In short: be authentic, be bold, and please… don’t try too hard to sound Gen z.”

Young people spend significant amounts of time online. They engage with what they deem as ‘real content’ every day. They can tell the difference between something created to connect and something created to imitate connection.

So what can be done?

The lesson is that the solution does not sit only in channel choices. As long as overload is avoided, creators, influencers, and commentators all have a role. Traditional advertising also still matters. The channel can carry the message but it cannot repair a weak message, especially when the audience is already exposed to too much. What brands say, how they say it, and choosing the right moment to say it, will matter more than the placement itself.

If brands hope to connect with young people in a meaningful way, the approach needs to evolve. Our research suggests three rules that stand out.

Rule One: Teach something

Young people respond to content that informs. They enjoy ads that help them understand something new about a product, a brand, a trend, or a moment in culture. They look for explainers, behind the scenes stories, “how to”s, and small pieces of knowledge that expand the experience.

This is not slow or heavy educational content. It is everyday usefulness delivered clearly and with personality. When a brand teaches, it creates value. When it creates value, it earns attention.

Rule Two: Inspire something

Gen Z are creative with the tools available to them, they produce, experiment, and share. They learn from one another and from the communities they build. Yet originality feels more challenging now because the world is crowded with content. This creates a pressure to stand out, even when they are unsure how.

Brands that offer inspiration have a genuine opportunity to connect. Inspiration can be visual, emotional, conceptual, or practical. The goal is not to impress. The goal is to spark an idea or give someone the confidence to try something new. When an ad inspires, it becomes more than communication. It becomes a prompt that supports self-expression.

Rule Three: Feel real

Authenticity is a familiar term in youth marketing, yet its meaning does not fade. Young people value authenticity because they are exposed to countless advertising attempts every day. They sense insincerity quickly. They know when something is over produced. They know when a message is hiding its intention. They know when a creative tries to speak to youth culture without understanding it.

Feeling real does not mean being unprofessional. It means being honest. It means allowing real people to speak in their own voice. It means being clear about intention. It means showing the brand in a way that genuinely reflects how it exists in everyday life.

When something feels real, it builds trust. When trust grows, attention follows.

A reminder on value

Alongside creativity and authenticity, there is a practical truth that cannot be ignored. Young people care about cost. They are living through economic pressure and they want brands to acknowledge this reality. They look for discounts, rewards, and meaningful offers. They do not reject price promotions. Sales messages continue to work when they sit within a broader story that respects who they are.

Where this leaves brands

Gen Z do not hate advertising. They hate poor advertising. They dislike being interrupted, underestimated, and presented with content that imitates relevance rather than engaging with it. At the same time, they value creativity, information, authenticity, and honest value. They understand that advertising has a role in the world. They simply want it to be done with care.

For brands, this is a chance to rethink the creative process. It also encourages a move beyond channel heavy solutions and supports communication that informs, inspires, and feels true. When those elements come together, young people do listen.

They listen because the message respects their time and intelligence and offers something of value rather than taking something away.