Every time she spots a plastic toy phone — the kind that blares Dhoom Machale at the press of a button — 21-year-old Stuti Malik can’t resist picking it up. It’s silly and entirely unnecessary, but in that brief moment, she isn’t a grown-up worrying about deadlines or rent, she’s just a kid again. As adults buckle under economic stress, climate anxiety, and endless decision-making, more of them are turning to toys, cartoons, and candy-coloured purchases. Not to relive the past, but to reclaim something gentler in themselves.

The Future Consumer 2027 report by trend forecasting company WGSN says “witherwill” will be the most important driving emotion behind consumption by 2027. Coined by John Koenig, author of the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, witherwill means “the longing to be free of responsibility” — an escapist fantasy of child-like liberty. 

Malik, a law student doing an internship in Mumbai, says she couldn’t find the toy phones in Delhi. “So when I saw them being sold in a local train in Mumbai, I bought one without bargaining.”