“Take a deep breath.”

“Love yourself.”

“You deserve that dessert.”

Nope, that’s not my therapist. That’s my food delivery app.

Somewhere along the way, brands stopped selling products and started prescribing life-fundas. A protein bar tells me ‘believe in yourself’. A skincare brand whispers ‘stay kind’, while I glare at a pimple. And the loudest life coach of them all? Push notifications. The Oprah Winfrey Show, but bite-sized: Stay hydrated, babe. Don’t give into Wednesday Woes.

At first, it felt cute. Personalisation, emojis, pep talks. Now it’s like: “Relax, you’re not my real mom.”

Still, I get it. We are living in the age of burnout – doomscrolling through loneliness, marinating in memes till 2am. Brands slide in like a gentle voice: we see you, baby gurl, pop some strawberry-flavoured melatonin. And suddenly, you feel understood. Loyalty, unlocked.

Look at Indian brands:

• Nykaa: ‘You glow differently when you love yourself.’ (Ma’am, I just wanted eyeliner.)
• Zomato: ‘Don’t be hard on yourself. Order biryani.’ 

At this point, they’re practically my life coach.

• Amul: Our eternal desi therapist, punning through every national crisis.

Push notifications have become the new pep talks. They used to say ‘flat 20% off’. Now they sound like clingy exes: You ate? You slept? You up? Sometimes it’s unhinged, sometimes genius - like when my cab app told me not to text my ex. Honestly, these apps are more emotionally available than half the people I have dated. 

Advertising once sold aspiration — cars, houses, shiny smiles. Now it sells affirmation. What is the one thing we crave now... more than stuff? We crave validation. 

Welcome to thera-tising.

The formula?

1. Diagnose the mood. (Don’t do generic – meet me where I’m at in life)
2. Offer affirmation. (Don’t preach. Offer advise...subtly)
3. Slide in the product. (Slide your face-cream under the table... like pssst, you want? Might help)

The risk? When every brand plays therapist, care and commerce blur. A face mask won’t heal your soul. Self-care doesn’t come at INR 999. Dove says you’re beautiful while selling six soaps. Starbucks hands you a cup that says Take it slow—then spells your name wrong.

So are brands helping us, or just monetising burnout? Maybe both. Therapy’s still expensive, inaccessible, even taboo. Until that changes, maybe we’ll keep taking our pep talks—whether from a therapist... or a packet of chips.

Brands, I know you mean well. Just take it down several thousand notches. And remember, there is a right time and a right place.

We’ll meet you there. 

The author is creative director, McCann Worldgroup. This article first appeared in the September issue of Manifest. Get your copy here.