40% of Gen Z wish social media had never been invented. Your ads live there.

• WHAT PINTEREST PUBLISHED
• On 13 October Pinterest posted a playbook for brands called "Design the exit: How to reach Gen Z on Pinterest". The headline numbers:
• 40% of Gen Z say they wish social media had never been invented.
• 63% of Gen Z adults now intentionally unplug, the highest rate of any generation.
• 44% of the time people go online, they get sucked into scrolling and end up somewhere they didn't intend to be.

Pinterest's argument: when people scroll with no goal, "ads don't land". They "become part of the scroll" and are more likely to be ignored than acted on.

Yes, Pinterest is selling Pinterest here. It says Gen Z is now over half of its users, and that 69% of its monthly users say Pinterest leads to real-world decisions. Read it with that in mind. The Gen Z numbers still matter, because every platform you buy is fighting the same mood.

• WHAT GEN Z IS SEARCHING FOR
• Pinterest's year-on-year search jumps:
• "things to do instead of scrolling" +365%
• "analogue aesthetic" +260%
• "dumb phone" +150%
• "travel sticker collection display ideas" +74%
• "coffee station ideas party" +624%
• "bedazzle headphones" +1,233%

The pattern: people still want ideas and inspiration, but they want them to lead to something they can do, make or go to.

• WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOUR ADS
• Most social ads are built for more screen time: watch the full video, swipe the carousel, follow the account. That is the exact loop 40% of this generation wishes did not exist.

The ads that fit the mood end with something real: a recipe to cook tonight, a look to wear on Friday, a place to go on Saturday, a store two streets away. Pinterest calls this designing the exit.

Done well, the exit is also where the sale is. Cooking means buying ingredients. Going out means booking.

• A SIMPLE TEST: YOUR EXIT SCORE
• Exit score = live ads that end in a real-world action ÷ all live ads

Say you have 20 ads running and 4 of them end with something to do offline. Your exit score is 20%. The other 16 ask for more scrolling, the very thing your audience is trying to do less of.

There is no magic target. Track it, raise it, and watch whether saves, store visits and bookings move with it.

• THE PUNKD TAKE
• The old playbook says win the scroll. A big part of Gen Z is telling you, loudly, that they hate the scroll. When your buyers resent the room your ad is in, the answer is not a louder ad. It is an ad that helps them leave.

Be the brand that gets them off the phone and into your store, your recipe or your event. They will remember who helped.

• STEAL THIS
• 1. Count your exit score this week: how many live ads end with a real-world action?
• 2. Rewrite your hooks around a task: "make this", "wear this tonight", "go here on Saturday".
• 3. Give every ad an exit: a store finder, a recipe card, a booking link, a checklist.
• 4. Swap "watch more" and "follow for more" endings for "do this next".
• 5. Report saves, store visits and bookings next to views.

Would your best ad still work if the viewer put the phone down straight after?