Voice actor Tawny Platis blames the commercial "millennial voice" on Jim Halpert from The Office in her most recent TikTok video. Platis is a voice actor who constantly shares "voices through the decades" and tips and tricks for people looking to break into voice acting.
Why is Jim Halpert the blueprint for the "Millennial Voice"?
Recently, she shared how John Krasinski's appearance in numerous commercials from Verizon to Apple TV and Blackberry shaped how casting directors wanted the people they hired to sound.
She explained, "The way he did it at the time was groundbreaking because TV commercials were always very performative. There were a lot of bright voices."
Platis shared some examples of what she meant by "bright voices" that were throwbacks to Macy's and PetSmart taglines, explaining afterward that she's done many of those types of commercials in the past.
"But John Krasinski used his Jim Halpert voice from The Office that was basically just like, 'Hey, I'm just a guy. I'm not really an actor. This is actually how I feel about this thing I'm showing, so you can trust me,'" she said. "It's like you're talking to a friend. I'm not an announcer. I'm conversational. And from 2010 until about four years ago, every single script for every single audition that every single voice actor got said, 'We're looking for a conversational read. Something that sounds like you're talking to a friend, not an announcer.'"
Platis noted that this kind of audition note was especially difficult for radio DJs who were trying to break into voice acting, especially in commercials, because many of them have a very "wacky guy with a cool voice" way of speaking when on the air.
The reign of the Millennial Voice is over
According to the voice actor, the Millennial Voice has been pushed aside in the past four years due to Gen Z's coming into their adulthood, and therefore buying power. She said that they see the conversational tone and emotional range as a whole as "corny" and cringe.
Instead, voiceovers these days tend to sound "detatched." Platis added that this sound "is supposed to sound flat and like you're talking to someone without looking up from your phone. [...] I find it interesting that it's very similar to how Gen X was depicted in the 90s when it comes to that apathetic and blank vocal style that was devoid of any affect except judgment."
"So if you're wondering why everyone on TV sounds like they're a millennial who's casually confiding in you or someone in Gen Z who cannot be bothered, it's not really that media is affecting culture so much as holding a mirror up to it."
One commenter noted, "I feel Chandler in Friends was also a very defining voice and style of speaking that so many copied for a long time after. I remember watching friends and thinking his cadence and sarcastic delivery was so unique, and I swear I was [the] start of a 'style.'"
The video was reposted on Reddit, where many resonated with Platis's views. u/hamilton_morris wrote, "That’s an interesting analysis. And it is definitely true that commercial culture in general operates almost entirely by estimating or copying what people respond to and amplifying that back at them."
Many Gen X parents agreed with her assessment of the similarities between that and the Gen Z detached line delivery, while Gen Zers themselves were fascinated because they didn't think the Gen Z voice sounded detached at all.
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