This is probably a lot harder than it sounds.
Rack 'Em
With social media being as bad and broken as it is, the idea of a month-long vacation from it sounds like reward enough. And with a new contest from *checks notes* the Siggi's Icelandic yogurt company, you might be able to get some serious cash out of it, too.
In an announcement on the company website, Siggi's Dairy said that to enter its "digital detox program," contestants must write a short essay "explaining why you need a digital detox in your life and how it will impact you in a positive way that aligns with the Siggi’s brand philosophy."
If selected, contestants will then — though fair warning, it's not detailed super clearly — lock their phones in a lock box for a month and instead use a "good ol' fashioned flip phone" for all their calling and texting needs, replete with a one-month prepaid SIM card.
Detox Detour
Siggi's, of course, did not invent the concept of a digital detox. For years now, everyone from wellness bloggers and Redditors to news outlets, academics, and medical associations have preached the benefits of logging off as a means of "detoxing" from the poisonous nature of being online.
Indeed, with so much science on the detrimental physical and mental health effects of "screen time" — that time spent staring into the illuminated high-tech rectangles of our smartphones, computers, tablets, or TVs — it's no wonder people dedicated to healthy living, be they doctors or natural wellness types, are preaching the digital detox gospel.
Some companies have even gone so far as to use this cultural catchphrase as a way to make a buck, with the term "digital detox" itself being the name of a health tech company, yoga retreats using the term to promote their expensive offerings, and $100 couple-oriented box sets proliferating on e-commerce marketplaces like Etsy. That's not to mention the hundreds of books with "digital detox" in their titles, or the beauty brands that slap it onto their pricey products geared towards customer self-care.
Though Siggi's is obviously using the term and concept as a viral marketing campaign, the company is at least offering not just some cold hard cash for its lucky winners, but also a three-month supply of its delectable cultures as well. As far as the world of digital branding is concerned, the company could do a lot worse — and for far less worthy a cause.
More reasons for a digital detox: AI Garbage Is Destroying Google Results
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