Here's Why You Should Be More Like Marmite

Marmite is disgusting.

That’s not an insult — that’s the brand strategy.

For the uninitiated, Marmite is a British condiment made from concentrated yeast extract. It tastes like soy sauce and sadness had a baby. The company’s actual slogan? “Love it or hate it.” Because they know exactly what they are — and more importantly, what they’re not.

They’re not trying to win over the masses. They’re aiming for obsession from a few.

We could learn something from that.

Somewhere along the way, most of us got the idea that the goal of life is to be liked. Smooth over the weird edges. Sand down the sharp opinions. Say the “right” thing. Just be… pleasant.

Become the human version of strawberry jam.

Everyone likes strawberry jam. No one loves it. It’s never anyone’s favourite. It’s there, it’s fine, it’s perfectly inoffensive — and that’s about as much emotion as it inspires.

There’s a term in the food industry for this: non-dissatisfaction. It’s what happens when a product is engineered to appeal to the widest number of people. It doesn’t generate delight. It just avoids complaints. Side note: What kind of dystopia do we live in where food products are engineered?

But when you try to live your life this way — optimized to never ruffle feathers — you become emotionally bland. And eventually, unrecognizable to yourself.

The mental overhead of being non-dissatisfying is exhausting. You have to remember which version of yourself you brought to which room. You second-guess every instinct. You get praise — but it never quite lands, because deep down you know they’re not actually praising you. They’re praising the persona you let them see.

Praise feels more like applause for a stranger than recognition of who you are.

I wrote something a few weeks back that wandered into slightly controversial territory — a piece about Canada, Don Cherry and how it feels like my cultural home has gone missing. A few people unsubscribed. A few others messaged me privately to say it was the most resonant thing I’d ever written.

That was my Marmite moment. A small signal that I was showing up with a little more flavour than usual. And honestly, I’ll take it.

Because if you live your life according to your values, if you stop editing yourself into strawberry jam, someone’s going to find you too strong.

And that’s the point.

If no one dislikes you, chances are… no one really loves you either.

So here’s your gentle reminder: your job isn’t to be universally liked. It’s to be unmistakably you.

Put another way, George Mack talks about how only weird survives. For those of you in the entrepreneurial world, this is Kevin Kelly’s 1000 True Fans.

You can be bland and tolerable to many. Or bold and magnetic to a few.

Be more like Marmite. The right people will know what to do with you.

Words I Wish I Wrote

Links & Learnings

• You’re One Away.

• The best moment of clarity from any professional athlete, ever. Thanks Scottie.

• The Secret to Productivity.

Psst… DSTLLD has a podcast now, too. I know — like the world needs another podcast, right? But here’s the thing: if you can tolerate my written rambles, you’ll probably find my in-person yammering… well, moderately tolerable. It’s basically me and a guest chatting about the same offbeat stuff you read here, except now you get to hear me stumble over big words in real time. I’m not saying it’s the greatest thing in the universe (trust me, I’ve listened to it), but if you like DSTLLD, there’s a good chance you won’t hate it. Win-win! Subscribe or follow on your favourite podcast platform:

• Youtube

• Spotify

• Apple

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PHOTW (Parenting hack of the week): Don’t wait until 12 months to sleep train your kid.