WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Marketing executives nationwide are tearing their hair out and desperately consulting their Urban Dictionary apps in a frantic effort to crack the code behind Gen Z's wickedly elusive sense of humor. "Remember when all we had to do was slap a celebrity's face on a t-shirt, and the Millennials would come clamoring?" lamented 45-year-old marketing consultant Kate Higgins. "Or when having your brand appear in a Facebook feed was enough to draw them in like moths to a flame?" But as Millennials begin stocking up on avocado-toast ingredients and their young, hip successors take up the social media mantle, marketing professionals across America are scratching their heads and demanding: "What the hell are on fleek, lit, and hella, and what do these gen Z want from us?!" Enter 19-year-old Mason Smith, the savior of exasperated marketers everywhere. Armed with an arsenal of satirical wit, cynicism, and TikTok followers, Smith has pushed his way to the front lines of a new wave of ad professionals who are getting to grips with a generation raised on Twitter banter and viral content. "The key to 'getting' Generation Z is to accept that you'll never truly get us," said Smith, chuckling as he scrolled through his Instagram feed. "You've got to strike a delicate balance between humor and relatability that leaves the audience wondering, 'wait, is this really an ad or is it a meme?'" Smith went on to explain that one of the best examples of an ad campaign that successfully courted Gen Z was a fast-food giant that filled a recent commercial with memes custom tailored to appeal to the demographic. "They knew how to reel us in," he said. "They had a cat playing a keyboard, a talking cactus, and a one-word description of their product: 'LIT.' It leaves you asking yourself, 'What the hell did I just watch and why is it giving me a craving for curly fries?'" But not all attempts to break down Gen Z's barrier of irony have been successful. "Our client came to us asking for 'something that'd go viral on TikTok'," said Claire Thompson, CEO of Thompson & Sons Marketing Solutions. "I consulted with my teenage daughter and she told me to incorporate something called a 'VSCO girl' in the ad. We knew we were onto something when my daughter said it was 'so cringe,' but then it turned out…it really was just cringe." Smith, who used to be the quirky kid doodling cartoons in the back of the classroom, now finds himself at the forefront of a marketing revolution that has seen him become a celebrity among unfunny and clueless advertisers. "I get calls every day from fashion labels, energy drinks, and even insurance companies all asking how to make their brand 'cool,'" said Smith. "I always tell them the same thing: just stay true to being hilariously weird, a little bit sad, and ultimately, acceptably cringe. And definitely don't use your grandkids as your test audience – they'll just laugh at you behind your back." As the marketing landscape continues to shift, with execs scrambling to stay relevant, one thing is clear: Gen Z's humor is not going anywhere, and advertisers better learn to decode it or risk falling into the pit of oblivion. "You want our attention?" asked Smith, while posting yet another TikTok of himself lip-syncing to an obscure 1990s sitcom theme song. "Get with the program already. And remember: there's no better way to 'secure the bag' than by making us laugh all the way to the bank."