Escaping Reality With PacSun

Take a minute, collect your thoughts, and think of everything you’ve ever dreamt of. From your ideal job through childhood to meeting your favourite cartoon character, celebrity or mentor all the way through adulthood. From your top college choice to the organisation you strive to work with. From your high school crush to the person you want to start a family with. From some dreams that you still see, to the one’s you turned to reality.

Oftentimes, when something we thought we planned well doesn’t seek the path we carved for it, we lean towards escapism.

es·cap·ism: the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy.

The entertainment that escapism feeds off of could come in the form of bingeing a television show, going out to a bar, stepping out for a run and so much more. But when it comes to escaping via engaging in fantasy, we tend to think of alternate situations that we also want to turn to actuality.

In this decade, one for the Gen Z’s, I see escapism becoming increasingly prevalent as expectations and peer pressure are on the rise. At such a time, I think the creation of an alternate universe — the metaverse, is out of the ordinary to say the least. Bringing together virtual reality and a fresh world of digital creation, the metaverse has the ability to change not only the extent of digital creation, but also the medium of commercial activity.

California-based retail apparel brand PacSun is one of the many well known labels that has decided to leap into the metaverse, along with luxury giants such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga and Selfridges. As a part of its summer 2022 campaign, PacSun is launching its metaverse experience consisting of virtual reality, augmented reality, live-streaming and a video game.

The label is aiming to attract Gen Z with its latest collection, luring customers in with benefits such as rewarding players of the game with virtual items for their virtual closets. Every aspect of PacSun’s metaverse campaign is going to be streamed on social platforms, the company’s website as well as on their storefronts, boosting the engagement towards their creation. Emma Chamberlain, Youtube and Instagram sensation, is the face of PacSun’s operation in the metaverse, potentially multiplying the impact of the brand’s unique efforts.

Escaping reality and diving into an alternate universe through digital platforms is not something I could have imagined 15 years ago, but is definitely a new path that I’m ecstatic to be growing with. I’ve heard ‘the possibilities are endless’ endless times, and today, it’s proving true right in front of our eyes. Truly, nothing is impossible. Dream on! The metaverse is your oyster.