While Gen Z catches a lot of flack for being single, or even antisocial, there’s a brutal economic reality underscoring why some people aren’t going out: They simply don’t have the disposable income.
Dating apps, already struggling to maintain user bases due to enshittification and a lack of quality matches, are contending with this affordability crisis.
In a dystopian sign of the times, BLK, the app for Black singles, announced on Wednesday that it is giving away free gas in an attempt to incentivize people to go on dates.
As part of the promotion, BLK is providing $500 gas gift cards to 10 people who download the app and tag three friends in the campaign post across its social channels. “Dating should not have to compete with the price of a full tank,” Amber Cooper, BLK’s head of brand, said in a statement.
According to AAA, gas prices hit a four-year high over the Memorial Day weekend, with the average cost of gas now $4.56, up $1.30 from the same time in 2025. The US- and Israel-led war in Iran has spiked energy prices and could also mean higher grocery bills, exacerbating the situation.
Recent studies show the average cost of a date has increased by 12.5 percent in 2026; 86 percent of US singles have hit pause on their dating life, with 33 percent of people who make under $50,000 per year saying they’ve stopped dating altogether. A new survey conducted by BLK also found that 77.6 percent of respondents said they feel financial anxiety around dating, with only 12 percent saying they currently date as much as they want.
For Gen Z, the so-called sexless generation, this has led to a rise in “soft socializing,” where instead of expensive dinners and triple-digit bar tabs at TikTok’s latest trending restaurant, young people have opted for low-key meetups that cost them very little if anything at all.
Brands have taken note. Instead of the swag bags of yore, some companies are appealing to users by running promotions for the most basic daily necessities.
It’s not just dating apps, either. As part of a recent marketing blitz, the cast of the new Boots Riley film I Love Boosters—about a crew of professional shoplifters—hosted a gas giveaway offering to fill up the first 70 drivers at a Shell station in Los Angeles, where gas is already over $7 a gallon in some neighborhoods. In February, seemingly trying to engineer good press about the negative impacts of online betting platforms—which have led to a rise in gambling addiction in the US, according to a 2025 study—Polymarket hosted a five-day pop-up in New York City where it gave away free groceries, including food and other provisions like Tide pods and toilet paper, to hundreds of people who stood in the cold for hours waiting to get inside. (“The Bleak Scene at Polymarket’s ‘Free Grocery Store,’” a Curbed headline read.)
“It’s certainly a tale of the times which one can argue are dystopian,” says Darren Martin Jr., a marketing consultant who specializes in multicultural branding. Increasingly, he says, marketing strategies “have to understand the material realities shaping society in order to connect with audiences in meaningful ways. Certainly, there are other ways but gas makes sense at this moment.”
Giving campaigns aren’t unique to 2026, though they do feel more pronounced right now, Martin says, noting that radio stations have long used them as a marketing tactic.
