Nightmare: Your dreams are for sale — and companies are already buying

LONDON — Remember when sleep offered an escape from endless advertising? That era may be ending. While U.S. citizens already face up to 4,000 advertisements daily in their waking hours, research suggests that even our dreams are no longer safe from commercial messaging. A new study reveals that 54% of young Americans report experiencing dreams influenced by ads—and some companies might be doing it intentionally.

The findings come at a critical time, as the American Marketing Association previously reported that 77% of companies surveyed in 2021 expressed intentions to experiment with “dream ads” by this year. What was once considered science fiction may now be becoming reality, with major implications for consumer protection and marketing ethics.

According to The Media Image’s newly released consumer survey focusing on Gen Z and Millennials, 54% of Americans aged 18-35 report having experienced dreams that appeared to be influenced by advertisements or contained ad-like content. Even more striking, 61% of respondents report having such dreams within the past year, with 38% experiencing them regularly—ranging from daily occurrences to monthly episodes.

Conducted by Survey Monkey on behalf of The Media Image between January 2nd and 3rd, 2025, the research included a representative sample of 1,101 American respondents aged 18-35. While the sample skewed slightly female (62%), the findings are considered reflective of broader perspectives within this age group.

The data shows a striking pattern: 22% of respondents experience ad-like content in their dreams between once a week to daily, while another 17% report such occurrences between once a month to every couple of months.

The phenomenon isn’t merely passive. The survey reveals that these dream-based advertisements may be influencing consumer behavior in tangible ways. While two-thirds of consumers (66%) report resistance to making purchases based on their dreams, the other third admit that their dreams have encouraged them to buy products or services over the past year—a conversion rate that rivals or exceeds many traditional advertising campaigns.

The presence of major brands in dreams appears to be particularly prevalent, with 48% of young Americans reporting encounters with well-known companies such as Coca-Cola, Apple, or McDonald’s during their sleep. Harvard experts suggest this may be due to memory “reactivation” during sleep, where frequent exposure to brands in daily life increases their likelihood of appearing in dreams.

Perhaps most troubling is the apparent willingness of many consumers to accept this new frontier of advertising. The survey found that 41% of respondents would be open to seeing ads in their dreams if it meant receiving discounts on products or services. This raises serious ethical questions about the commercialization of human consciousness and the potential exploitation of vulnerable mental states for marketing purposes.

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