It used to be cigarette breaks: a handy escape from your desk to spark up and enjoy a five-minute ‘breather’. Then came vaping breaks. But with the habit now (rightfully) on the decline among young people as they turn their back on smoking, and disposable vapes having been banned, something else has had to take the humble cigarette break’s place. But what is a socially acceptable moment of escape?
Enter: the ‘fridge cigarette’, the latest Gen Z hack circulating on social media, which allows people to enjoy a brief (sometimes well-deserved, sometimes probably less-so) break.
What is a ‘fridge cigarette’?
No, this isn’t the latest smoking trend; in fact, no cigarettes are actually involved. In fact, the ‘fridge cigarette’ describes the moment you open the fridge, reach for a perfectly chilled Diet Coke, crack it open and enjoy a refreshing sip. “Just a little something to take the edge off,” explained one social media user.
The viral new trend emerged on TikTok this summer and has fast done the rounds on the viral video platform with young people using it to hit reset on their days and recentre themselves. Any chilled fizzy drink does the trick, though Diet Coke is the favourite, likely because the “Diet Coke break” slogan from their original 90s advert still lingers. It’s worth noting that fizzy drinks do come with their own health risks.
“Time for my afternoon fridge cigarette,” read the caption of another clip.
Another wrote: “Overheard someone call a Diet Coke a 'fridge cigarette' and nothing’s been more true to me since.
“Almost 3pm? time for my daily fridge cigarette,” added a third.
What makes it special?
It’s not hard to imagine how a refreshing sip of a cool, fizzy drink on a hot day has a similar impact on our minds as sparking a lighter and taking a drag of a cigarette.
Some content creators even tried to draw a comparison between lighting a cigarette and cracking open a can, with a creator called Rachel Reno telling The New York Times, “The crack of the can is like the spark of a lighter.”
Speaking to Today, the social media creator credited with bringing this term to the forefront told the outlet: “The best insights are ones that we don’t have to explain to each other, we just ‘get it’ — and people just get the analogy.”
“Even though Diet Coke might not want to be associated with cigarettes, it’s a truth about the brand that resonates with millions of people.”
She later went on to clarify that she views soda waters like fake cigarettes, while full-fat Coke is equivalent to a cigar.
