TIL there are online shops that sell nothing on purpose. You place an order as usual, but it never arrives, and that is exactly the point. The NYT went through the genre, which started in South Korea this spring.
The pleasure they try to recreate is called anticipatory utility. It describes the good feeling of looking forward to something, which can match or even beat the having of it. Social media feeds run on a related trick, mixing mediocre videos in with the great ones, so your brain knows the next 10/10 is coming but never when. The not knowing spikes up your dopamine levels.
In other words, those fake online shops sell you most if not all of the fun, without needing to spend money or consume goods that aren’t healthy for you or the planet.
Some examples to browse through:
- Food Never Arrives, the Korean original, where you order and then see what you saved in money and calories
- Damta World, a simulated smoke break with crackling audio and strangers whispering to each other
- Rewire Heaven, where you swear off a habit in public and let strangers hold you to it
- Fake Haul, an imitation megastore built by a Microsoft developer
- Imaginair, Earth Day Canada’s fake shop about overconsumption