How Creators Turn Words Like 'Slutty Little Glasses' Into Consumption

Forbes

30-07-2025

You probably never heard of Blakely Thornton, the online creator and cleaver culture critic, but unless you've been living under a rock, it's likely you've seen his work. Ever heard the term 'slutty little glasses,' the phrase that Entertainment Weekly suggests might just be this year's 'brat summer?' Well, Thornton created it, and now it's being used across social networking platforms, in news headlines, on red carpets, and throughout the broader zeitgeist.
The language 'slutty little glasses' refers to the thin, wire-framed, barely-there glasses that actor Jonathan Bailey dons in the new Jurassic World Rebirth movie, co-starring Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali. The language gained popular on the internet after Thornton coined it to describe Bailey's aesthetic in the movie trailer and soon became the newest menswear fashion trend.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 23: (L-R) Mahershala Ali, Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Rupert ... More Friend attend the "Jurassic World Rebirth" New York Premiere at Lincoln Center on June 23, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/WireImage)
But what captures my attention most about the adoption of Thornton's creation is that this is the kind of cultural impact that brands would spend a small fortune to produce. Yet, creators like Thornton have been able to introduce ideas and language to the public and, subsequently, drive engagement and commerce. For instance, retailers have reported rising searchers for micro-framed glasses thanks in part to 'slutty little glasses' and its popularity. That's because these creators aren't making ads for products; they are making cultural production for people.
The scholarly literature refers to cultural production as the shared creative output of a community that reflects its perspective on the world. It consists of the books we read, the music and podcasts we listen to, the film and television we watch, the food we eat, and a host of other artifacts that simultaneously reflect and influence how we (collectively and individually) see the world, and how we subsequently behave in the world. These works are often made by producers—like artists, writers, creators—and used by people to socialize the characteristics of a given community through the outward expression or justification of their worldview.
For instance, I grew up listening to hip hop music, watching The Cosby Show, and reading the bible. The ideals expressed in these works have impacted how I think about style, good parenting, and moral decision-making, respectively. They have influenced my worldview, so, naturally, they are reflected in the way I show up in the world—informing what do and what I consume. But that's not the case for just me; that goes for all of us. Our commercial consumption is a byproduct of cultural consumption. Like the Janus god of Roman mythology, the relationship between culture and commerce is circuitous. What's expected of people like 'like us' (our culture) sways what we consume (our commerce). And what people 'like us' consume (commerce) becomes expected of us (our culture). It's hard to tell where one begins and other ends.
(Original Caption) Janus, Roman God of doorways, after whom the first month of the year was named. ... More Engraving. BPA2# 3543
According to the mythology, the Janus god—which consists of one being—acted as a custodian of the universe's entrance, guarding what comes in and what goes out. Likewise, culture and commerce operate in a similar capacity—acting as a singular gateway to consumption but from two different sides which are hardly indistinguishable. Yet, these two processes happen together and drive what's acceptable and what's intolerable. What's 'in' and what's 'out.' What's cool and what's whack. Cultural production like 'slutty little glasses' give products new meaning which make consumption acceptable. Simultaneously, conspicuous commerce makes consumption more public and, therefore, casts a vote on what's acceptable—ultimately, driving more consumption.
This is the power of cultural productions like 'sluttly little glasses;' they get integrated into our way of life and become a part of how we live and, not to mention, what we buy. The calculus is simple: if people 'like me' do a particular thing then that thing is now deemed socially acceptable for me, and I am likely to follow suit. Not so much because of what the product is but because of who 'we' (my people) are. That's why creators like Blakely Thornton are so invaluable to the marketing mix. It's not so much because of their reach, an outdated perspective for engaging 'influencers.' Instead, it's because of their ability to rework ideas into culture production by giving products new meaning beyond their value propositions.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 27: Blakely Thornton attends "Another Simple Favor" New York Screening at ... More Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 27, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/WireImage)
The legendary hip hop artist, Rakim, puts it plainly in his 1988 classic, 'Follow the Leader,' where he says, 'I can take a phrase that's rarely heard, flip it, now it's a daily word.' This is the essence of what cultural production does; it goes beyond merely getting people's attention to being adopted into their way of life. What marketer wouldn't want that?
No doubt, the creation of cultural product can make for some of the best marketing for any brand that seeks to benefit from the influential effects of 'culture.' We know this intuitively because there is no agency on this green earth that has not utter the phrase, 'we want to get the brand into culture,' because we know the powerful sway of culture and how far it can propel an idea or drive product adoption. But the only way to harness the power of culture is to contribute to it, and it doesn't take slutty little glasses to see that truth.