British GQ - 09.2019

The TEN objects that

define SUMMER right now

*

*And they’re not what you would expect, as new research from Zopa shows

S

ummer is a time of

tropes – and recently

those tropes have

shifted. Kid Rock’s

“All Summer Long”

captures this neatly.

Reflecting on his idyllic summer

of 1989, the singer recalls a care-

free time of campfires, singing

and open water. It’s the kind of

American pastoral that taps into

the traditions that gave us the

Beach Boys and the Drifters. As

Kid Rock muses nostalgically:

“We didn’t have no internet”.

And what a difference the

internet has made. Now, with

social media’s tendency to cele-

brate the #luxurylifestyle, sum-

mer’s connotations are skewing a

great deal more aspirational: it is

becoming defined as the domain

of yacht parties, “it” sunglasses

and statement rosé. Or at least

that’s what the influencers would

have you believe.

New research by Zopa, the

FeelGood Money™ company and

soon to be bank, tells a differ-

ent story. To help people make

the most of their money over the

summer months Zopa has created

the Ice Cream index, revealing

the items that bring people the

greatest joy per pound. Britons

were asked to consider 100 sum-

mertime spends and give them

a happiness rating out of 1,000.

The scores were then weighted

alongside the cost of the items

to reveal summer’s top list of feel

good items.

Turns out, the items making

Britain feel good this summer are

reassuringly affordable. While “a

high-tech drone” and a “holiday

in New York” generate a lower

score on the Ice Cream Index, “a

book” and “a home-cooked family

meal” score much higher.

Plenty of the items on the

list also feel very now. There’s

“vegan ice cream”, for instance

and “tickets to a Pride event”.

Interestingly, “a bed”, “a paint-

brush” and “giving £1 to a charity”

score well too. In other words,

wellness, philanthropy and mind-

fulness are where it’s at. Welcome

to FeelGood summer 2019.

Story by Charlie Burton Illustration by Aistė Stancikaitė

The ‘Ice Cream

Index’ top five

These are the items bringing

Britons the most joy per

pound this summer.

1. Chocolate bar


2. Giving £1 to a charity


3. Paint brush


4. Cook book


5. Bunch of flowers

Zopa offers customers the

chance to feel good about

their financial lives with great

value financial products and

award-winning customer

services. zopa.com

G Partnership

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