Imagine this…

You spent all weekend ignoring your inbox, binge-watching the hottest new show on Netflix, and sleeping way past 6:25 a.m.

But now it’s 3:58 p.m. on Sunday.

You’re halfway through comfort-watching The Office when it hits you.

The dread starts bubbling up in the pit of your stomach.

You try to focus on the show, but it’s no use.

The Sunday Scaries have arrived.

“How the hell is the weekend almost over? It seems like it was JUST Friday,” you think in despair.

Suddenly, every unfinished work task from last week floods your brain:

• The email you should’ve sent on Friday
• The presentation you should’ve started
• The Monday morning meeting you should’ve prepped for

Your pulse speeds up. Your brain races ahead to tomorrow, spiraling about all the sh*t you have to get done.

You grab your phone to escape reality for a second. But doomscrolling just makes it worse.

And that’s when you see it…

A juicy ad that promises to help alleviate your Sunday Scaries with a delicious, golden-fried chicken sandwich.

“What perfect timing,” you think, already feeling comforted and grabbing your keys—even though you’re not that hungry.

Why did you feel the need to buy a fried chicken sandwich?

In today’s edition of Why We Buy 🧠 we’ll explore Sunday Scaries—why we fear the start of the workweek.

Let’s get into it.

🧠 The Psychology of Sunday Scaries

Have YOU ever felt that creeping dread before the workweek begins? You’re not alone.

LinkedIn found a whopping 80% of professionals experience the Sunday Scaries.

Why? Because your weekend freedom is slipping away, and your brain knows it.

But the Sunday Scaries aren’t just a mood.

They’re a mix of:

• Anticipatory anxiety, which makes you fixate on everything that could go wrong this week.
• ​Loss aversion, which makes you feel like your weekend (your time, freedom, and joy) is being taken from you.
• Control-seeking behavior, which kicks in and pushes you to take action—ANY action—to ease the discomfort.

And guess what?

Buying stuff is one of the easiest ways to regain a sense of control and feel better.

That’s why many brands have tapped into the Sunday Scaries for their promos.

Feel a little weird about it?

Look, you can’t control what’s going on in your customers’ lives. But you can offer a solution to improve their lives.

And tapping into a trigger event like the Sunday Scaries can be a great way to do that more effectively.

🤑 How To Apply This

Alright, so how can you apply this right now to sell more?

Promotions​
Include a free bonus that delights customers

Last year, Popeye’s launched a limited-time Sunday Scaries menu to help ease the dread linked to the end of the weekend.
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And customers who spent at least $10 would also get a delightful bonus: a free chicken sandwich. Yum.

Not only did they provide comfort food when we needed it the most, but they also cleverly targeted their competitors while doing so…

Popeye’s positioned themselves as the chicken restaurant opened on Sundays—if ya know what we mean. *wink wink*

eCommerce​
Use humor to alleviate dreaded situations

To help people overcome the Sunday Scaries, the Purple mattress brand enlisted the help of comedians Tim and Eric—AKA “The Purple Boys.”

Their marketing campaign promoted how Purple mattresses’ comforting support could help soften (get it?) the anxiousness felt before the new workweek.

That, coupled with the humorous “zonk strategies,” helped customers turn dread into laughs (and maybe even a mattress purchase).

Apps​
Help users feel in control

Headspace offers content to help users embrace the new week as a fresh start.

This includes their “Looking Forward” video, which helps to rewire your mindset—shifting the end-of-the-weekend doom into a sense of calm and control.

So instead of viewing the week ahead as something to survive, Headspace reframes it as an opportunity to reset, refocus, and move forward with a positive mindset.

💥 The Short of It

The Sunday Scaries are more than feeling dread.

They’re a trigger event that make people crave relief, comfort, and/or a sense of control.

That’s why smart brands tap into this moment, positioning their products as antidotes to that end-of-weekend dread.
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​Until next time, happy selling!